Phantom Virus
by pegasus612
Summary: An assassin attempts to kill TK with a prototype virus. Patamon saves his life, but not without serious repercussions. Now TK is racing to restore some semblance of order in his world before everyone else finds out what he's up to...
1. Default Chapter

I don't own Digimon, nor do I own any of the characters, but you probably knew that already, right?

Chapter 1: The Week Off

"Mom!! I'm home early!"

The sound of a lock clicking open then a door closing permeates through the noticeably empty apartment as a teenager of a slightly-taller-than-average height walks in. As he turns on the lights, we get a better view of him. His messy blond hair falls down to slightly below his neck, with a few bangs reaching below his ears. He has a slight build, not exactly the person you would expect to be the captain of the varsity basketball team. However, his most noticeable feature would be his eyes. They are a deep, ocean blue, but also have an aesthetic aura that portrays a sense of wisdom one would associate with elderly scholars and prophets, not a young boy of 14.

Yet, in those short fourteen years, he has experienced more than half the people of the world do in a lifetime. Forcing to live a kill or be killed lifestyle in the Digital World since the age of 8 can tell you many things. Not to mention a tragic divorce that still haunts him to this day. Yes, this boy, named Takeru Takaishi, has lived a hard lifestyle, but it isn't even half over for him...

"Honey,

I just found out about a huge story on an up and coming diva from America. I have to fly there and spend the week in San Francisco. Call me if you need me, you have my cell number. I'm sure Matt can help you with anything in my absence.

Mom"

"Sigh...And I thought this day couldn't turn bad." It had turned out that during fourth period, someone had set the school on fire and half of it burned to the ground. The fire, incidentally, seemed to come from the Home Ec room where a certain spikey-haired brunette with goggles was having a cooking exam.

"I always told Davis that he should've taken lessons from Matt. But at least he managed to get us a week off from school. My teachers were starting to go medieval on me with homework." He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV. The station he was watching was showing pictures of said burning of said school.

"Earlier, today, at around 12 PM, Odaiba Jr. High School caught fire and burned to the ground. Analysists believed the fire was started from a cooking experiment gone horribly wrong. And now for the weather with RING..."

"Now would know to call me now. Technically, I should still be in school." Takeru mumbled as he walked over to the phone.

"Hello, Takaishi residence. Takeru spea...."

"How many times must I tell you to skip the pleasantries when I'm calling? I swear, for my brother, you are way too formal."

Takeru smiled as he recognized the voice on the line almost as instantly as just about any girl in Japan would. Matt's band, "The Teenage Wolves" had spread out from Tokyo and was one of the top bands in all of Japan. Matt was lucky not to get mobbed walking down the street from his "fan club". "How are you doing, Matt? Why are you calling me, now? It wasn't your school that burned to a crisp, now was it?"

"Nah, I'm in Sushimaru-sensei's class now and he's pretty cool with cell phones. I just so happen to be watching a news broadcast about the same subject, but I figured I could leak more info from you. So, was it Goggle brain Jr.?"

TK laughed at his brother's appropriate nickname for Davis. Davis literally was becoming a Tai clone between clothing and hairstyle (Tai finally got his hair cut). "I'm not exactly 100 sure, but I would think that 99.9 sure would be nearly as good wouldn't it?"

"Nope, nowhere near as accurate. I better start preparing myself for teaching him the way of cooking, though. Maybe then he could actually pass that class."

"I think you should. I don't want the world to blow up underneath me when all he does is turn on the microwave."

"Not good at all. So, what's up? Anything new? Any crushes? As brother of the lead singer of the most popular band in Japan, you have to have a love life. It's a rule!"

"I'm not saying a word. Mom's out of the country though. I have the week to myself."

"That's good. You can finally relax. You were driving us up the wall with your ranting of how evil your teachers are. I'd better go; the bell rang."

"Alright, see ya later, Yamato." Click 'Now what to do? What to do? I'm so bored.'

The door to his bedroom swung open as an orange and white hamster-looking thing with bat wings flew into the room. "Yawn TK? What...are....you...yaaawn.."

TK smiled as he looked at his partner in crime, Patamon. "I see I woke you up from a nap. Davis set the school on fire and mom's MIA so I have the week to myself without school."

"That's nice. Why don't we go to the Digi-world? We can go to your secret base and swim!" Patamon seemed to be awake after that.

"Patamon, shhhh! Only you and I know about it! I don't want someone to hear you!"

"TK, lighten up. You're always so overprotective of the location of your secret base. We two are the only ones that know it exists let alone know where it is. Besides, who's gonna hear me? There's no one here but us!"

"You're right. Let's go!"

Off the NW coast of server about 100 mi. there is a chain of islands that as you can imagine is isolated from the main swing of things. The Kaiser himself didn't know it was there, not even Gennai knows of its true whereabouts. In fact, the only ones who do beside the digi-sovereign and the occasional water digimon that passes by, would be TK and Patamon. They discovered it when a boat they were traveling in went of course in a storm. The secret base is a cave on the northernmost island that is on a beach. The duo use it as their get-away-from-it-all place. I mean he may be friendly and people oriented, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want alone time as well, right? Unfortunately for him, he's going to get his alone time and then some in the near future...


	2. Infection and Realization

Disclaimer/Note: You know by now, of course, that I don't own Digimon. In case you didn't realize it by now, I am wavering between using Japanese and English names. This may turn out to be AU because some things will happen that I know wouldn't/couldn't/didn't happen in the TV series/manga.

Chapter 2 Infection and Realization

It was well past 8 o'clock at night by the time the duo arrived home, wet and tired, and after nearly collapsing from sheer exhaustion in the shower, TK decided to go straight to bed.

Patamon decided to stay awake for a little bit, mostly because he had a lot on his mind. Among other things was his partner's blatant obsession with the secrecy of their archipelago. He had voiced his opinions about this to TK, but the answer was very vague. '_I'm afraid the others would ruin the solitude and calmness of the place if they knew about it.' _ He didn't know exactly what he meant, but after a few pensive moments he kind of deciphered it to be a place untouched by digimon and human alike. That kind of purity was rare in both worlds, so he wished to protect it. 'Well, TK, I'll help with that job.' Patamon was used to Takeru's inclination to keep all burdens to himself.

In fact, few people knew that the seemingly outgoing and open Takeru was in reality a very introverted and secretive person. He's so good at hiding it though, that certain persons who think they could read him like a book (Kari and his mom to name two) in reality know almost nothing about him. His secret base was also his spot to have his desired alone time. Patamon and Matt were the only ones who could fathom his complex mind, but even they didn't know everything about his enigmatic psyche. Patamon was very deep in his thoughts over this subject that he didn't notice the figure floating just outside the window of TK's room.

A being shrouded in a black cloak hovered outside apartment 506 of Odaiba Grand Suites. He pulled an ice pick from his belt and started to create a hole in which to enter the room through the window. The glass was very stubborn in letting the killer in even until the end. It took him a good five minutes to make a decent hole and the glass decided it wanted to fall into the room, and would have shattered on impact were it not for a clawed hand that shot out of the mass of ebony. "That was close," it whispered to itself. He crept into the room by what seemed to be the head first and slinked to the floor. At that moment, two intense azure eyes shot open. 'Damn! He must have sensed me.' The sapphire pools darted across the room looking for the cause of the disturbance. Reaching into the clouded abyss of black, the assassin pulled out a blow dart gun and proceeded to knock the victim out before he struggled. 'This was easier than planned. The way master was talking about this boy, you would've thought he could destroy the world. And now for the virus.'

A certain potential angel sensed the aura of darkness only too late. He snapped out of his thoughts and darted from his bed in the closet only to find a human-like mass plunging a syringe into his charge's neck. "NOOO!!!"

The being looked up at the scream to see a peculiar flying sprite in a doorway. It chuckled to itself and merely stated in a monotone voice, "All is going according to our master's wishes. You cannot stop us, now. Your friend will soon be dead by our newest weapon. Hope will cease to exist, and despair will engulf all living." And with that, he faded away into nothing.

"No, TTTTKKKKK!!!!! I'll save you!" Patamon rushed over to the body of the boy. He was visibly paling and retching as in pain, even with the sedative. "Great, what am I thinking? I don't know the first thing about medicine!" Patamon flew hastily around the room thinking of an idea when, suddenly, he paused. "Wait a minute, from Takeru's body I'm sensing... That's it! That must be how this poison works!" He flew down to the flailing teen and stopped. "The virus is causing a huge influx of power to appear inside his body. If I don't stop it, it will surge beyond the ability of the body to withstand it and he'll disintegrate. I'm really sorry, Takeru. I know you'll hate me for sacrificing myself, but you must live!" He flew over to the night table where TK's D3 was sitting and picked it up. "I'm truly sorry, but this is how it must be." After muttering his regrets, a momentary flash resounded through the room. It was so bright and powerful that it was later said that this flash could be seen through all of Japan. The spectacle was over before it started, nevertheless in a certain apartment, a teenager continued to slept peacefully, oblivious to the celestial phenomenon that occurred in his room, and, more importantly, unaware that his best friend had ceased existing physically in this world.

It was the phone that brought TK into the waking world, that and a very sharp pain from his back. "Ow! Why does my back hurt so much? Maybe I fell off the bed onto something and got back up without realizing it. Or maybe I got shot by a guy trying to kill me. That dream was so real though...hey, where's Patamon?" The phone realized that back pain and nightmares were more pressing at the moment, so it stopped ringing and started its message.

"Hey TK, it's Davis. I know, I know, I'm not usually awake this time of the morning, but I decided to make an exception and grace the Earth with my presence earlier than usual. Anyway, I called because I wondered if you could hang out today since you don't have anything life-altering to do today and no school to boot. Call me back when you wake up! Buh bye!"

The message revitalized TK and he managed to sit up on his bed. 'I'm soo tired, I don't think I could put up with Davis all day. He's getting better, but he's still too hyper for me to handle. And man is my back is killing me. I wonder why it hurts so... '"OH MY GOD!!!!!"

It appears that he found the answer to his question, as he was staring in utter disbelief at two appendages sprouting from his back that had apparently gotten there overnight. The appendages in question fit perfectly into the category of 'wings.' The pain was understandable, for the wings were crushed under his body from his position on the bed.

Takeru managed to stop hyperventilating enough in order to get his thoughts straight. "Okay...huff...I am...huff...definitely hallucinating." He got up and walked out of the room. "I am closing my eyes, going to the bathroom and looking into the mirror. The wings will NOT be there. I will be PERFECTLY fine. That one dream is psyching me out emotionally. I'm a normal human."

He slowly moved his hands from his eyes and looked into the large panel of glass. Much to his dismay, the wings were there, seemingly taunting him. But the most shocking thing was that he looked NOTHING like TK, the digidestined of hope that he was yesterday, and more like TK, the mutant human that completely changed appearances including hair/eye color, not to mention wings, overnight. After five seconds of staring at his new self in the mirror, he did what any respectable person would do in his case. He fainted.

This will be covered in more depth in the next chapter, but I just wanted to clarify this now to prevent any confusion. Patamon did NOT merge with TK. You'll find out everything eventually.


	3. Explanation and Detection

_TK! Wake up, Takeru!_

Takeru opened his eyes and looked around. He appeared to be inside some sort of religious sanctuary, maybe a church? He couldn't tell. The architecture was stunning, made of marble, and the statues created an atmosphere that screamed light, airy and angelic. Though, the voice was definitely familiar.

_I would hope that my voice is familiar, you've known me for what is it now, six years?_

"Patamon? Patamon!" He frantically searched through the circular room, though found no trace of anything orange.

_Yes, I'm here, though slightly changed. I see you're not yourself, either._

"Huh? Oh, wait, that's right. Patamon, do you know what happened? And, where are we? Where are you for that matter." TK, of course, was desperate for answers. Well, you would be, too in his position.

_One at a time, please. Let's see. The forces of darkness tried to kill you with a disease. I had to sacrifice my physical body so that I could protect you. Right now, I'm a spirit, residing in your mind, shielding off the virus from fatally attacking you._

"Damn! I thought it was just a nightmare! But, Patamon, why? Why did you sacrifice yourself for me? And why would anybody want to kill me in the first place?" He still couldn't see Patamon, so he just settled on shouting at the ceiling.

_I don't know why anyone would want to kill you. He mentioned something about hope and despair; maybe it was an evil digimon? Anyway, did you get a look at yourself? You look so out of place here, in this sanctuary of light. It's kind of funny, considering we're in your mind._

A mirror materialized out of nowhere right next to the teen. It was then that TK really got a good look at himself. His hair was the first thing that popped out at him. Instead of the usual golden blond, it was now silky platinum silver. His eyes were still blue, just much paler, grayer, and icier. He also had different clothes on. His new outfit comprised of a white, form-fitting shirt, with navy blue shorts and brown sandals under a hooded, jet-black cloak. The most apparent change, though, was obviously the wings. At first glance they appeared to be evil in nature. However, closer inspection revealed a scaled surface; dragons' wings were what they truly were. All of the new changes, accompanied by two sharpened teeth jetting out from his mouth (fangs), literally gave him a very demonic appearance, obviously contrasting the purity and holiness of the room, wherever it was. "Patamon, how exactly did I become like...this? And what do you mean, inside my mind?"

Apparently, it must be a side effect of the virus. I don't know what good it would do to turn someone into demons or dragons or whatever you are. Second, this place seems to be symbolic of your mind. This room represents what you let everyone think you are. The room is small, saying that you tell everybody everything. Also, notice that everything is open, representing your "inability" to hide things from others. But that's just this room. Your real mind is over in this corridor. With those words spoken, a doorway appeared out of nowhere near where TK was standing. He went to open it, adjusting for his wings. The door opened to reveal a very familiar cave on a beach in the Digital World containing posters, beanbag chairs, and a TV portal. "My secret base? My secret base represents my real mind?" Now that he thought about it, they did share similarities. Only a few people knew both his real mind and his secret base. They also had many secrets. The cave in reality led deep underground, probably into a whole chain of caverns. TK always wanted to explore them, but Patamon always refused saying it would be too dangerous. 

"Yes, it does. I do believe you also see the resemblance?" A small and tired voice projected from the center of the room, where a glowing crystal hovered in midair.

"Patamon! There you are!" He rushed toward the gem, and picked it up. It was yellow, in the shape of (guess). A golden circle circumscribed the familiar symbol, and a single silk thread was connected as well meaning it was more or less a pendant. TK hastily put it on.

"Yes, TK. This is what my spirit looks like. I see you found me. Now I want to know who's trying to kill you. Piedmon, perhaps? Or is it Puppetmon?"

It was, of course, at that moment when TK finally realized the severity of what happened to him. "Oh my gosh, Patamon, I think we should find out HOW TO CHANGE ME BACK TO NORMAL, first, and then figure out the finer details. I mean, what would Matt say? What would just about everyone say? I need to get my normal body back! That way all the digidestined could help us."

"Well..." Patamon thought for a moment, at least, that's what TK thought he was doing. It was really hard to tell when Patamon was a piece of jewelry. "Maybe...if we can destroy the virus inside of you, then maybe you'll turn back to normal! Either that, or maybe it's only temporary!"

"I wouldn't be that hopeful, Patamon. I think we want to exorcise it. We need to find someone to help us. Someone wise and powerful.... I know, Gennai!" As he was saying this, everything started to get all wavy. "What's going on...?"

_You're waking up._

Sure enough, TK found himself in his bathroom, in front of his mirror, in full dragon mode (this is how I will refer to it in the future). Amazingly enough, the pendant was still hanging around his neck. "Patamon...?"

_I'm here_, a small voice said in the back of his head. _Since my spirit is taking residence in your body to block the virus, I guess we can communicate telepathically. I suggest you mind talk with me. Someone might think you're cashews if they see you talking to a necklace._

"Nuts, Patamon, Someone might think I'm nuts. And now, to the Digital World." TK hurried back into his room. Just at that moment, his D-Terminal beeped. He rushed over to his bedside table, grabbed it and noticed something was missing. 'Patamon, where is my D3? Did the guy who...?'

_No, he didn't take it. I needed a power source in order to separate my spirit, so I kinda...used the D3. It's shattered beyond repair. Trust me._

'That's great, then. How am I supposed to get to the digital world, now!?' While settling into this new complication, Takeru decided to read his e-mail. It was from the last person on Earth that he needed to deal with right now.

**_Dear Takeru,_**

_**Davis has been trying to get a hold of you and is driving me off the walls complaining. Knowing you, you're probably just ignoring him. But, please, could you just put up with him for at least two hours. I'll make it up to you later, I promise. Please?**_

_**Kari**_

"I'm sorry, Kari. I have my own predicament right now. I can't deal with either of you right now, so just get off my back. Have fun with Davis! TK"

After e-mailing his response, he began to look for a way to get into the digital world in his current, mutated, D3less condition. Another aspect of Takeru's secrecy would have to deal with the girl, Kari. Everybody else including Kari thinks that the two of them would be a "match made in heaven." They all think that they each love each other, but don't realize it. In reality, he never had any feeling for her other than platonic love, while even that was strained. He couldn't stand her tendency to be overly emotional. Sometimes she would cry her eyes out over a very simple thing, and she sometimes would stalk him even when she was in that kind of a mood. She was simply annoying.

_You know, TK, maybe we could get into the digital world by asking the computer._

"Patamon, that's the silliest idea, I ever heard. What, do you want me to walk over to the computer.." He walked over to the computer."...face it like so and say, "Please, Mr. Computer! Could you please send us to the digital realm? I ever so have to go visit a friend of mine.' Not gonna do anything at all!" But, in fact, it did.

The computer flicked on and seemed to operate automatically. _See, TK? See what you get for being nice?_ TK was just plain speechless as the computer sucked them into the digital world.

They were in the jungles on Server. They recognized the place as near to Gennai's house. "Now, how exactly did we do that, again?"

_Just don't question it. We're still a ways off, though. How about you try flting us there?_

It was the first time TK contemplated flight. "Well, I hadn't really thought of that before. Let's see if I can do it." He started concentrating and kicked off from the ground.

It was the most exhilarating experience he ever felt. The wind rushing past, his cloak brushing against him. The ground rushed past him underneath. He was really zooming along. He also realized how comfortable the clothing was, like it was made of silk, which it probably was. 'I may be stuck in a demon's body, but at least they dress in style. These clothes might be worth more than my entire apartment!'

It took him less than two minutes to reach the lake that housed Gennai's dwelling place. Takeru was almost sorry he had to touch down. Almost, but not quite.

He approached the waters with caution. A gruff voice with a trace of a roar came from the trees behind him and snarled with disgust, "How did you get here, demon? And what do you want!?"


	4. Disabling and Invasion

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, yada, yada.

_Patamon's voice_

Chapter 4: Disabling and Invasion

"Um...hello, Leomon! Nice day, isn't it?" Takeru called out to the lion digimon standing in the bushes behind him in an attack stance. The beast showed no sign of any recognition; the comments only made him tense up more. 'Great. I'm stuck in this body where I'm liable to be attacked by people I used to call my friends.'

"How do you know my name, spawn of Satan? We've never met, and I don't plan on meeting again. But just so you know, I don't make an effort to give pleasantries to demons. So, don't expect mercy when I kill you!" He reared his fist back "FIST OF THE BEAST KING!" A beam shaped like a lion's head charged towards the very shocked TK.

He managed to dodge the attack by flying out of the way. Wishing to avoid conflict as much as possible, TK wrapped his cloak around him closely and took off in a random direction. He heard a shout from the ground. "YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN!" 'I don't recall Leomon ever being so violent toward anything, even Ogremon. Although, I don't know where I should go. Gennai would probably react in the same way so I can't go there.'

_I totally agree, TK. I don't know where to go, either. Hm...those mountains look inviting, maybe we should go there?_

"Mountains...?" He looked toward the north and saw three or four peaks sticking up in the skyline. "I don't remember mountains' being there before. Let's check it out." Using his newly acquired flying capabilities, he reached the foreboding peaks in record time. Even Patamon commented on his speed. _If I ever get my body back, I want to race you._

The highlands turned out to be the exact opposite of "inviting." Jagged rocks stuck out every which way; some were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, able to impale unwary birds and other flying creatures, under which category TK fit perfectly. There was tons of snow covering the ground. Sheer vertical, granite cliffs were concealed by solid walls of pure ice. Even the air was frigid enough to pierce flesh and cloth, alike. "P-p-p-ata-m-m-o-o-n-n! R-r-em-m-ind m-m-e next t-t-ime not to l-l-l-isten to you." Even with cloak, shivering and heavy exercise of beating wings, he was freezing.

Patamon took note of the situation and chose to act before his physical companion caught hypothermia. _Look, there's a cave on the side of that mountain! _True enough, on the leeward side of the highest mountain, was a small opening. TK opted to take Patamon's advice and headed into the cave before his wings became a collector's case for icicles. Much to his surprise, the cavern was considerably warmer than the outside atmosphere.

Sometimes in your life, you make a decision that you feel is insignificant at the moment, like meeting and chatting with a complete stranger. But maybe five years or even five minutes later, you realize that everything could have been quite different if you chose something else. That would be the case here. Leaving the mountains completely would have saved our duo from much of the trouble they are going to face. But then there wouldn't be a story, now would there?

_I have got to hand it to you, Takeru. You only received your wings this morning, yet you are using them as if you've had them all your life._

'It's a funny feeling, Patamon. Right when I first flapped them...it seemed like I knew exactly what to do. I can't describe it, really; it felt mostly like..._instinct._ But, I'm interested in this cave. It's so warm compared to the blizzard outside. And all the jagged rocks and avalanches, it's as if...'

_...someone was hiding something. I'm getting a strange feeling, too. In fact...it feels like...our crest!!! Our crest is here, in this cave!_

'Really? I don't see anything.' All that anyone could see, well anyone looking with physical eyes that is, could only see a deserted cave with an occasional stalagmite every ten feet or so sticking up from the ground. Nevertheless, he knew his partner was almost always more informed than he was about these kinds of things. "Hey, Patamon, do you think that maybe we could use my crest to restore me to normal?"

_It certainly is a possibility_. _You can go in, retrieve your crest, use its power to turn back to normal, and we'll be out of here before you can say...Look there it is!_

Along the bend in the rocky corridor shone a great light theat could only come from something powerful, or a giant floodlight. But there aren't any of the latter in the Digital World. As they rounded the corner, they could clearly see what was causing the aura, and it wasn't what they were looking for, exactly.

_Look! It's the...the...crest of miracles!_

Sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the spherical chamber sat a pure white crest (for my purposes, it looks different than the one on Davis's digi-egg) with the Greek letter sigma on it inside the letter theta, both emblazoned in gold. Around the crest was a barrier that was probably there to prevent anyone from taking it.

It is in these great moments of wonder that great minds tend to blatantly state the obvious. "That is definitely not our crest."

Gennai was on his computer at that moment sifting through his e-mail like any normal person would do, looking very bored. "Spam...advertisements ...a thank you note from Whamon for the caviar I sent him...the RDL for the day? Nothing else looks interesting...(RDL stands for Reconfigured Digimon List, and is basically just that, a list of the digimon going under reconfiguration from deletion). What has the server sent me today? Let's see...2 Numemons from old age; a Scubamon from a diving incident, poor guy; 4 Blossomon and 3 Woodmon from a forest fire, how sad; a Patamon from unknown causes; 2 Frigimon from... wait a minute, Patamon?"

There was only one Patamon between this world and the human world, and he belonged to TK."TK must be so devastated, it's the second time he lost him, and most of the others haven't even lost theirs once. I shall offer my condolences. I wonder, what could have deleted him...causes unknown? Computer, upload program Quick Change and have digimon Patamon001 reconfigured speedily."

Unfortunately for Gennai, the computer replied in a very computer-like tone with a non-expected answer. "Unable to comply. Unknown force is restraining data of digimon Patamon001."

"What's that supposed to mean? This can't be good. This isn't good at all. I'll have to tell him the bad news. Computer, e-mail Izzy and tell him to arrange a meeting tonight."

"Confirmed. E-mail sent. Meeting is set for 5:30 PM."

Just then, a certain king of the jungle walked in. "Gennai, we have a problem."

"Yes, Leomon, we do. Please tell me yours first, though."

"All right. I was returning from my venture to Digitamamon's restaurant when I saw something...peculiar. It was a hooded figure in a black cloak with black wings, and he was hanging around this lake. When he turned around, I noticed that he had silver hair, and these eyes...I swear they could pierce one's soul...it made me very uncomfortable. I scared him off, though I'm wondering how he got here in the first place."

"I know what you mean. However, the barrier is operating normally. My news isn't much better. Patamon was deleted and I can't figure out why. Not only that but something is preventing him from reconfiguring at primary village. This does not bode well." All suspicions were proven when sirens started blaring throughout the house, thoroughly deafening the two inhabitants. "Computer, what's wrong? What caused the emergency?"

"Warning! Warning! Barrier protecting the entire digital world and the human world from harmful pathogens has been completely and utterly destroyed. Cause unknown. There is a 65.765 probability that the power source has been destroyed, disconnected or absorbed."

"This is not good at all." Gennai just hoped that somehow he'd get through this new catastrophe with both worlds intact.

There was no reason for Takeru to be in the chamber with the crest, so he turned to go. From the angle seen from turning, he saw two points where the barrier seemed to jut out. Curious, he walked up to them to reveal two shiny daggers. One was transparent, yet carried an aura of pure holiness. The other was clouded with a lavender mist that looked harmless, but felt utterly evil. There was just something about them, though....

_TK, I don't think it's a good idea. Who knows what could happen?_

"Aw, come on, Patamon, you're being paranoid. It's not like if I grab the knives, all hell will break loose." He moved toward the dual weapons and reached for the light one. He touched it slightly at first, then slowly wrapped his hand around the grip. "See, no problem!" He then proceeded to grab the other in the same way.

_Wait, Takeru, I think that maybe you should...wait, TK, TK! The virus...it's responding!_

"What?"

_YES, Takeru, the virus is growing stronger and stronger! I can't hold it much longer....AAAAHH!_

"Patamon, Patamon? Are you...AAAAHHHH!!" Searing pain reached all throughout his body from head to toe. He immediately fell to the floor taking the daggers with him, effectively shattering the barrier around the crest. 'I should have listened to him...now the virus will kill me.' His eyes managed to open for three more seconds allowing him to witness the next chain of events.

The crest of miracles, without its protection barrier, started to glow brighter before splitting into nine different beams that shot themselves out of the cave. The darkness became overpowering, and TK gratefully submitted to unconsciousness.

Young one... 

_Please, wake up..._

"_Huh? Where am I? What happened?"_

_Shhh....it's all right. Your journey is now beginning, young one..._

"_Journey, what journey?"_

_The journey to save all worlds..._

"What?" He was snapped out of his dream, or vision or whatever it was. The first thing he noticed beside the overwhelming stiffness of his body was that he wasn't in the cave anymore. "Am I...dead?" A very logical question considering the destruction around him could only be matched in hell.

Note: Please review people. I'm sure you know the feeling of uncertainty when you don't know whether people like you or not. No flames, please, I'm flammable. Just say what you think is wrong calmly and politely and I'll see if I can change it. The intro is finally done, so it'll get much better (and much weirder) after this.


	5. Discovery and Bad News

Hello, everyone, it has been a while hasn't it? Sorry, I just spent the past week in Gatlinburg and obviously I didn't get a chance to...

??: I"M HERE!!!!

Me: Huh? Who...?

Mimi: Oh, come on! You don't remember that I was coming to visit? How mean! And I even brought my self-proclaimed little brother with me!

TK: Ummm...hi.

Mimi: Yea...ANYWAYS! I'm sorry I got here late, but you know how it is, it being Thanksgiving week and all, the airport was SO crowded, but I mean, what do you expect, it IS JFK after all...

Me: glares at Mimi>

Mimi: Ergh...so how have you been? I really haven't been up to much, you know the usual...here Takeru, be a gentleman and carry our bags to our room. Oh, and do the disclaimer while you are at it. I have some catching up to do!

TK: sigh fine... Our good friend, whom we are staying with, does not own digimon, nor does she own me.

Chapter 5

"Today is JUST not my day, is it?" After calming down through lots of deep breathing exercises and a nice relaxing shower, Gennai deemed himself ready to find a remedy to the problem of the evil-prevention barrier. Unfortunately for him, there was no data or disruptions present that could have caused the firewall's failure. 'Man, either Azulongmon is playing a VERY mean joke on me, or we're in trouble. I really hope whatever was powerful enough to do it is on our side.'

"Gennai! Look here! There are sightings of strange hooded creatures to the far southeast!"

"Leomon, please. I don't need the extra stress of an invasion-in-progress, right now. If you're joking, stop, because it isn't funny."

"I hate to get your mane in an uproar, but I'm not kidding. Here, we have pictures." Leomon opened the attached file from the lookout. It showed a clearing in the forest with 5 or so cloaked figures creating what appeared to be a campsite. The cloaks were layered and with torn and ragged edges leaving any sort of boundary between it and the surrounding air to appear nonexistent. "That's strange. They look different from the one I saw before. At least I could see the other one's face, and his clothes were neat. Maybe he was a scout of some sort?"

"I don't know, Leomon, although I highly doubt they came all this way for a camping trip. We'd better warn the digidestined. We only have about two hours before I meet them anyway. Here's to hoping we survive until then."

"Gennai, I think you should go now and tell them."

"Uhh, right." He grabbed his digi-terminal. "Izzy, I'm afraid matters have become worse. Have everyone together in half an hour. No exceptions. Gennai"

"How did I ever get here of all places?" He had found himself in what were certainly the ruins of a large city. The twisted metal beams and concrete slabs littered the ground he was standing on, which was paved over with asphalt (a road). It felt just like the Zanarkand Ruins from FFX, except there weren't pyre flies flitting about, and it didn't look the same, it merely felt the same: the destruction, the remains and the _abandonment_. This place hadn't been touched in years.

A sound that sounded like a pebble falling echoed over the desolate street. Takeru's hand instinctively reached to his side where twin daggers sat neatly sheathed and ready to be wielded. 'Now how did THOSE get there? They're the same knives that were in the wall around the crest…and they didn't have leather sheaths!' He pondered this as he started to walk down the path through the rubble.

Weatherworn advertisements, traffic signs and cars- all bleached by the sun and eroded away by wind and rain. No words at all remained on them- they had faded away. "Where am I? What happened here? I wouldn't want to mess with what destroyed this place. Hatamow about you, Pon?" There was no response, only the wind, gently pushing him towards the setting sun. "Patamon?" He reached down to where the pendant was hanging around his neck a few minutes ago. It wasn't there.

"Yes! YES! YEES!!" Taichi Yagami could not have had better news in his life even if it was a marriage proposal from the love of his life. After rereading Izzy's e-mail five times to make sure he read it correctly, he sauntered over to his two companions with a big, goofy grin on his face. "We have to be at the park in a half-hour to meet Izzy. Which means, dear sister, we can STOP MINDLESSLY RUNNING AROUND TOKYO ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE FOR YOUR DEAR BOYFRIEND AND GET ON THE SUBWAY BACK TO ODAIBA!"

"Is it that obvious, Tai? I mean…" Her cheeks started to erupt in a pinkish color.

"Yea, Kari. It's obvious. I think maybe everyone knows you have a huge crush on Takeru. At least all of the Digidestined do. Don't worry, Takeru doesn't, though, at least, I don't think he does." After Davis didn't receive a call back from TK, which was very unusual, he recruited the help of the Yagami siblings to search out his best friend. The e-mail reply, which was his idea, was too vague, so they went around Tokyo looking at TK's favorite spots for the blonde. They were currently at a coffee shop run by TK and Matt's aunt.

Tai, in case you couldn't tell, had had enough of running around, and was getting very tired. The two others, however, seemed to have an endless source of energy somewhere because they did not seem fazed at all. "Regardless of Kari's love life, we have to get to the destined meeting, and I'm sure TK will be there. He wouldn't miss it. It's not like he's trapped in an alternate dimension and in mortal peril…"

No hint of yellow was to be seen anywhere around him, not even his hair, which was still a shimmering silver. TK trudged along, resigning to the fact that he had to stay this way with the hair and the fangs and the wings…okay, so the wings were alright; he did enjoy flying. They were just a bit scary-looking, and it was just surprising to see them right when you wake up when you weren't used to it. The fangs were kind of neat, though he had to work on hiding them so he wouldn't scare anyone away. The hair was a good color, too; at least it wasn't puke green or something like that. All in all, his new appearance was really cool, and he actually liked it, now that the initial shock had worn off.

A symbol on a street sign caught his eye. The sign itself was torn in half, but it was facing down and away from the sun. The remaining part had but one word on it with an arrow pointing down a road. Bridge.

"Bridge…? Bridge to what? Maybe I'll recognize the bridge and know where I am. I doubt it, though." He followed the road down through a surprisingly familiar stretch until he reached the ocean. "What? That bridge…it can't be…"

Flashback

"Joe…Joe! WAKE UP, JOE!!"

"Huh? What?" Joe let out a big yawn before turning to face the young blonde. He and TK were riding on Ikkakumon to the island of Odaiba together because they were the only ones living on the mainland. They were going to meet up with their friends who were currently facing Myotismon.

"Joe, look! There's something in the fog!"

"That's just a bridge, TK. Now, let me sleep. I had to cram for a bio test last night."

"No, Joe! There's something on the bridge!"

"The little tyke's right! It's a Mega Seadramon!" A long red water snake had curled itself around one of the supports.

End Flashback

"This is the same bridge where Ikakkumon first digivolved to Zudomon. It's the bridge to Odaiba from the mainland. And…I'm on the…Odaiba side…"


	6. Revelation and Preparation

Mimi: You know, pegasus? I think TK and Kari make a cute couple. I mean they seem destined to be together!

Me: You think so? I don't.

Mimi: Why not? I mean they do have the same kind of digimon. What more proof do you need?

ows about you and I er, explore our plant digimon toMy old, fat and bald neighbor from across the fence: Hey there, hot stuff! Didn't notice you before! Hgether? (holds up his Kiwimon)

Mimi: OK, OK! I see your point.

Chapter 6

TK walked along across the bridge toward the mainland, or rather, walked and flew over the spans of bridge that were missing. Across the abnormally still waters, the half of the sun above the horizon shone furiously in crimson shades revealing what could quite possibly be the last instance of peace and beauty left on the planet. 'What happened to the Earth? And how long have I been out of it? This reminds me of Rip Van Winkle, only I don't think anyone's left to recognize me, if they even could recognize me.'

He gazed across the ocean to the setting sun, not noticing the fact that it was setting in the east. "Did **_I _**do this? I didn't mean to destroy the world! I didn't know this would happen!" Something large and white caught his eye on the bridge. He spun around to see what appeared to be a statue of a…seal?

"Now why would anyone make a statue of a seal, of all things, and put it here of all places?" The statue in question was pure white in contrast to the reds that engulfed the scene. The seal appeared to be diving, with its mouth open wide to reveal two small tusks. TK absently fingered his own fangs. "This is too weird. This statue, it was obviously put here so someone could find it. But why?" The statue in question started to emit a bright silver light, like a beacon in the darkness. "Oh, of course. I should have known. Why are these idiotic things dragged into everything!?!" Sure enough, in the mouth of the seal, hidden until a closer inspection revealed its presence, was a pure silver tag with a depiction of a shining cross.

It was the crest of reliability.

"I'll start with fifty."

"Hey, Gomamon, that's a pretty hefty bet, but I'm gonna call and raise ya seventy."

"That's too high, Armadillomon! I fold."

"I agree with Biyomon. I fold, too."

"Aw, Gatomon, why? You had the best hand, too, a flush of spades!"

"Palmon, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop reading over my shoulder, that's the _fifth_ time, today!"

"And I'd appreciate it if you SHUT UP! You're breaking my concentration!"

Who knew taking care of the digimon could be so aggravating? Yolie certainly didn't. She and Sora were having a girls-only sleepover for Mimi's sweet sixteen at Sora's house, but as it turned out, almost all the digimon wanted to come. Yolie said no, but they came anyway, except for Patamon. The digimon, after almost destroying the apartment from boredom, finally decided to play cards, which left the girls to settle down for a few rounds of Dance-Dance Revolution.

"Yolie, you need to stop letting them get to you. This is the fifth game in a row I've beaten you."

"All right, all right, Sora, I'll try. Ready, Set, Go!"

"Hey, you two, get ready to go. Izzy just e-mailed us. The meeting's now at 3:00, which leaves us about twenty minutes to get over there! That includes the makeshift casino hounds, too!"

"Awww, Mimi! I just got up to five thousand yen!"

"Sorry, Agumon, but I'm sure Tai and the others would appreciate your coming along to the meeting. If you ask me, it sounds pretty urgent. Now, let's go!"

"sigh OK, Mimi. Come guys, let's clean it up so Sora doesn't go berserk on us again."

"Yeah, Sora can be very scary when she's mad."

"Well, I don't know about that, it just might have been the fact that you ALMOST DEMOLISHED THE ENTIRE BUILDING!"

"Hey! Us Digimon have to keep in shape! Maybe there's another bad guy whose butt we have to kick! These practice duels help us! Too bad Patamon isn't here, though. He was the only one who could keep up with me."

"I think I'd better take it with me. When I see Joe, I'll give it to him." TK reached toward the statue and took the crest from the creature's mouth. An intense gust of wind started blowing around him from every direction. 'What's going on? OH, TK now you've really done it! You're destroying the world all over again!' The wind stopped as suddenly as it started. "What? Well, there's no nuclear bombs or fiery meteors…maybe I'm off the hook!" He spoke too soon, of course, as one look to the horizon revealed a large wall of water bearing straight toward him.

"A tsunami! And I'm trapped on this bridge with nowhere to go…figures." TK braced himself for his inevitable demise, but never felt it. It all happened in an instant. The wall of water came crashing down and destroyed the remnants of the bridge. But TK and the statue remained stationary in mid-air.

'This is too weird.' Everything stopped halfway through the wave; maybe time did also. He looked over to the seal. It started to dissolve, and dissipated as if made of sand. Then, he emerged from the other side of the water. He looked down at the deceptively calm sea, acting as if nothing had just happened. He floated over to the opposite side of the bridge feeling very disturbed. He could have sworn the seal winked at him before it melted away.

More and more of the streets were littered with cars, bricks, blocks of concrete, and skeletons of bodies undeterred. He seriously hoped this wasn't his doing; otherwise, he'd have a lot of explaining to do to God. One skeleton in particular that would haunt his mind for a long time was one that was small enough to be a child's. It was on the ground, next to an old, deflated rubber ball. "It's as if, they just spontaneously died while they were going on with their normal daily life."

"That's pretty much what happened, though I'm surprised you didn't know that. It did happen many, MANY years ago after all."

TK spun around obviously not expecting an answer to his musings. He also didn't expect another person to be inhabiting this…well…

"Who are you? What happened here? And what do you mean this happened fifteen years ago?"

The figure was an old man who appeared very wise. His robes were of deep blue and purple: definitely a scholar. The odd thing was that he was just as shocked as TK was. "Who am I? WHO AM I? I am the great sage, Makra! I lived over 500 years ago during the Renaissance period. I managed to find a way to keep my spirit sealed in an inanimate object. So, I'm basically a spirit roaming Earth, the only one, to the best of my knowledge. It can get pretty lonely, since humans can't see, hear or touch me. I can travel to other worlds, but not many there can sense me either. You're the first human, that's for sure, but you aren't exactly human are you? But why does your voice sound familiar? I know I've heard it before."

"Oh, I am human. This may sound very weird, but some black-robed dude injected me with this virus that turned me this way."

"Hold on, hold on! You mean the enshrouded ones actually injected you with the Evanescent Death? And it turned you like this?" He was getting excited to the point of hysterics now.

"Wait, who are the enshrouded ones? Are they the black-cloaked figures that turned me like this? Does that mean the whole world looks like…well, me?"

"No, you're the only one, but you actually don't know anything do you? Hold on, maybe you were in a coma for a long period of time. What year is it according to you?"

"Uh, it was winter of 2004, last time I checked."

"Oh my gosh…you do have no idea! That was fifteen years ago, just before the Evanescent Death started!"

"Izzy, you dolt! You can't just schedule a meeting whenever you want! Some of us have school to attend!"

"Oh suck it up, Joe. So you miss one biology class. What's the big deal?" Matt and Joe happened to go to the same high school, and were currently at their lockers discussing the subject of the meeting. "You forget that you are speaking to the master of hookey. I practically invented it. Now come on. Chances are that if Izzy is willing to get off his laptop to discuss it with us in person, it's important. And for us, important usually means prevention of the destruction of the world."

"Matt! I can't believe you can take your education so flippantly! But you do bring up a good point. If we get caught, I'm saying you put me up to it."

"Relax, Joe. We won't get caught. With me around, you have no reason for fear. Just follow my lead, OK? Hey, Principal Tagoshi! Might I say you look wonderful today in that orange and purple dress you're wearing…"

It was a while before TK responded. "Fifteen years ago? FIFTEEN YEARS AGO? I am fifteen years into the future, a bleak and desolate future…whatever, what's this Evanescent Death you keep talking about? Maybe if I somehow find my way back to my time, I can prevent it from ever happening and stop all this."

"Good luck. The Evanescent Death was just scientists' name for a virus that spread and affected the entire world…there were no symptoms. Over five billion people were killed outright by the virus. No one could figure out anything about it. The people just…died. Just like that. No warnings. There was nothing left in their corpses to signify anything happened. So, they coined the Evanescent Death because it disappeared quickly, and well, it obviously killed a lot…are you okay?"

TK was staring off into space at this point, "So…I'm the only person left on the planet…why do these things always happen to me?"

"That's not exactly true. Some people had some sort of a defense against the virus, but there was no biological difference between the people who survived and the ones who died. And since there were no symptoms, nothing happened to them at all."

"So either you died or nothing happened at all. Of course, I had to be the exception. But that means that there might be some people left, right?"

"Don't get your hopes up. After the virus wiped out most of the planet, that's when _they_ came. The enshrouded ones. They started murdering everyone that was left. They needed no weapons. Their claws were enough. They…they…ripped out people's hearts. And nothing worked against them. Neither nuclear weapons nor hand-to-hand combat fazed them. Wait a minute, wait a minute! I GOT IT!"

A noticeably paler and shocked TK only managed a small, "what? What did you get?"

"I know where I heard your voice from! You must have been that blond kid that liked to hang out on the beach outside my lab."

"You mean to say that your lab is the cave on that one archipelago in the digital world?"

"It is you! I knew it! Now, let's go back to your time!"

"Wha…WHAT? You could really take me back in time? And you didn't tell me!?! You made it out that we were stuck here forever."

"Yes. All I require is the energy source from one person. And we'd better do it quickly. Did you notice the sun is setting in the opposite direction tonight?"

"What? Is it?"

"Unfortunately. I've seen it before…in the digital world. That's where the Enshrouded Ones came from first. When the sun of a world sets in the opposite direction that it's supposed to…it's the sign that a world is dying and going to be swallowed by the darkness. When the sun completely sets, the world and everything else on it turns to dust."

"Then we better hurry. Look!"

Across the ocean, the last feeble ray as the world's last ray of light cried out as in pain, and slowly diminished to nothing.

"Quickly, let's go! This won't hurt a bit, trust me." TK felt himself sucked up into the air by another force. He just hoped he knew what he was getting himself into.

Me: Oh no! I forgot to take my medicine!

TK: What medicine?

Me: My disclainer medicine! 'I don't own digimon.' There. I've taken my medicine.

Mimi: That seems like a pretty silly medicine. What's it supposed to cure?

Me: It doesn't cure anything. It does help to prevent lawsuits and plagerism. No side effects, either. You can't even overdose on it.

Mimi: Really? Let me try. 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' 'I don't own digimon.' ....

Me: This is going to take a while...where's my migraine medication?


	7. The meeting and Sincerity

I don't own Digimon. If I did, then it would be completely different. Let's not go into how much different...

Nakra to TK>

>TK to Nakra 

Chapter 7

Uhhh, did you get the license number on that truck? Seriously, I feel so out of it, wait a minute…white walls, ugly red carpet, portraits of family members…I'm in my house! Cool! Okay, now that the fog has been lifted, maybe I should get myself off the floor. That's better. Wait a minute; my wings aren't brushing the walls, hair check… …I'm back to normal!

Yes, about that, since you basically saved my life by appearing like that, I thought I would make it up to you by turning you back to normal. Unfortunately, I was only able to create an illusion of yourself, so technically you're not back to normal. You just look like your old self. You do look like yourself, yes?>

>Nakra, what are you doing inside my head? Ugh, whatever. I pulled myself over to the mirror to examine myself. Hmm, not bad; My hair's now dirty blonde pushing light brown…it's been changing a lot, lately, hasn't it? Anyway, I was wearing a green t-shirt with black shorts and sneakers, nothing too conspicuous. The others wouldn't realize I was a freakish mutant. >Wait, how could I have saved your life if you're already dead? And why couldn't you use someone else to take you back? 

Well, technically I would cease to exist or worse become a dark spirit. And, well, I couldn't find any other humans. But, you don't want to hear how we got here? I thought that would be the first thing you would ask. Anyway, I was in Siberia at the time when suddenly I found the inspiration for the formula. It was simple, really. All you have to do is manipulate the field stream by using hydrolyzed energy…>

>Ummm…Nakra? 

…then you plug in the discriminant to obtain a matrix in row-echelon form, which you proceed to find the determinant to find the magnitude of vector PQ, which once you find the dot product of that, and the unit vector **j**…>

Mustn't listen to technical jargon! My D-Terminal was conveniently placed on the counter next to me…let's check my e-mail. Let's see…obvious match-making attempt from Matt, annoyed e-mail from Kari about how I'm not here, meeting in 10 minutes, digimon complaining about absence of Patamon…meeting in ten minutes? Better go. Then I'll start looking for those black-hooded guys before they kill the world…again.

Running is not my strong suit, must remember that! Also, I should remember that I shouldn't be late in the first place, and then I wouldn't have to run. But it wasn't my fault! I'm almost to the park! Passing by the TV store, something white catches my eye…again. I stop and look at the news. Oh, goody, another pure white statue has popped up, this time in front of the convention center, downtown. I'll investigate after the meeting. I need to get there now or everyone will yell at me, and I have to give that crest back to Joe.

Good I'm in the park. Just a few more steps, there they are! And of course, my brother is in front just ready to berate me.

"Where were you, TK? Everyone was worrying about you and you go off and disappear! And what happened to your hair? It seems darker for some reason."

"I'm sorry, Matt." I was only turned into a demon by a group of black-cloaked things with a virus they're using to kill the entire world.

"None of that, now. I'm sure TK has a logical reason as for why he disappeared during the day. Right now, we need to meet with Gennai." Thank you, Izzy! Now maybe what Gennai has to say will make everyone forget I was gone.

A spectral image of our 'guardian' appeared out of Izzy's laptop that he carries with him everywhere. "Greetings, everyone. But let's get right to the point. The barrier has been destroyed."

"What? The barrier protecting our world and the digital world? But it's supposedly indestructible!" Thank you, Mr. Kamiya for stating the obvious. I just hope you-know-who didn't have anything to do with it.

"Those were my thoughts exactly, Tai. We must be careful. Luckily, none of your old foes have shown up, yet." Good news, for a change? Pinch me, I'm dreaming.

"However," Ha! I knew it was too good to be true. "There are some…unknown figures setting up a war camp in the northern wasteland. They are wearing long black cloaks, very hard to miss. I want you to try a sneak in to see what they're up to." Of course, it's obviously them. They couldn't give me any time to prepare, they come right when I get back. They don't waste time, do they? And he wants us to do a spy mission? Sure, Gennai, let's all just slit our wrists right now.

"These creatures must be powerful if they were able to destroy the barrier. Please proceed with caution." Oh, you have no idea, do you?

"Come on, Gennai, cut out the doom and gloom speech. Let's just march in with guns blazing and teach those invaders not to mess with the digi-destined!" Sometimes I swear Davis could be the most trigger-happy person in the world.

"Aw right, Davish! I'm wish ya!" Like partner, like digi-destined…

"Yeah! There's never been anything we couldn't handle! These must just be some uninformed punks that haven't heard of the thrashing we give to any and all evil! Let's get 'em!" Okay, now Yolie actually agreeing with Davis on something is a miracle. It was at this point that I decided to say something, being better informed, of course.

"Of course, Davis. Since you seem to be so invincible, you all can go off on your little crusade and pretend you'll beat the bad guys. We reasonable people will stay behind and mourn at your funeral next week." That should dissuade anyone going along with Davis.

"Now, TK, I thought you were the hopeful one." I absolutely HATE it when people say that. "Just because you dyed your hair doesn't mean that you can boss us around. What makes you think we can't do it?"

Seeming as most of the others were actually siding with Davis, I knew the cause was futile. I was definitely getting angry at them. "Fine. But I'm still not going. I have more important things to do than get myself killed. Good bye." I stomped away. I can't believe they would actually go into battle blind. Maybe when they get thrashed they'll realize I was right.

I can't believe your friends would do that. Why didn't you say that the Enshrouded Ones were invincible?>

>They probably wouldn't have believed me. Besides, I really don't want to get into the story of how I'm a demonic mutant, right now. I'm glad I didn't just suddenly change in front of them. 

No. You only change when you want to. Just think about changing. Try it!>

I of course didn't want to listen to him, but after repeated nagging, I snuck into an abandoned alleyway. I thought about changing into what I was earlier today. Nothing happened. >Nakra, I don't think… I felt something. It wasn't pain, just a weird feeling. It was over quickly.

Well, now that I knew I could spontaneously change back and forth, I quickly reverted to the semblance of normalcy he had conjured up for me. Pushing aside all thoughts of guilt, I wondered what I would do now. I know. I'll go see that statue in front of the convention center. Maybe another crest was there.

Everyone was looking in the direction that TK had left. No one said anything. Gennai suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no, I forgot to tell him Patamon is dead!"

Heads turned at that remark.

An idea popped into one of the digi-destined's heads. It was an evil idea, but he didn't know it at that time.

Let's see…where would the statue be? Maybe where the large crowd is? Bingo.

I have an idea! Maybe if we go to my lab, I can find out why you were changed and no one else was. Maybe some of the virus is still inside of you and I can concoct a vaccine!>

>Sure, whatever. Just let me see this statue. I decided to askone of the security guard about what they knew about it.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Huh, hey kid, Whadya want? Get lost!"

"But, sir, where exactly did this statue come from?"

"That's the thing kid, no one knows. Eyewitnesses say it magically appeared out of thin air. I say that's a bunch of baloney. But isn't she hot?"

The statue looked like a teenaged forest sprite with long hair and clear wings. Both of her hands were near her face, as if she was crying. One of her hands started to shine green. Obviously the crest of sincerity was inside it. If I could just get to it…that's strange, no one seems to notice the glow but me.

"Alright, people move it. Hey squirt, that means you." I turned around and saw some old dude there. I was going to give him a piece of my mind, but someone else interrupted me.

"Ah, Professor Bakariku, you made it." Apparently, the security guard knew him.

"Yes, and I was just telling this youngster to move out of my way. But he won't listen. Apparently you don't know who I am. I am THE Professor Oda Bakariku, the world-renowned geologist and art lover. I am here to take a look at this well-sculpted statue that supposedly appeared out of nowhere. You lot of superstitious nobodies won't even touch it. How sad." I couldn't give a damn about who you are. Apparently you don't know who I am, because in two seconds I'm going to go demon on you.

Anyways, he gave me the chance I needed. "You think we won't touch it? Fine. I'll prove you wrong!" I marched up to the statue, shoving the security guard away in the process. And in front of the crowd of people watching, I reached up to the hand and grabbed the crest. Silence, then earth underneath us started to shake. Vines shot out of the ground covering the statue and myself in a living dome. I was scared to death. The statue smiled. Then a large green aura, then…

"OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!" I was back outside, no vines covering me, green lights, or statue, but in its place…

"How did you do that, young man? You turned the statue into a beautiful sakura tree!" In front of me was a giant cherry tree in full blossom; in my hand was the crest of sincerity. I quickly pocketed it. No one seemed to notice the vines or light, just the sakura tree. I left quickly before I was mobbed.

Oh yeah, I decided to change it to 1st oerson POV in case you couldn't tell...

Mimi: A little late for that, isn't it?

Oh shut up!


	8. Another fight, another crest, another ma...

SO SORRY!!! Between Winter Break and being grounded from the computer, I haven't had time to update!

Mimi: Yeah, well, I hope you're happy that you abandoned us and left us to starve!

I did not!

Mimi: I know, that was just for dramtic effect!

Nakra to TK>

>TK to Nakra 

Chapter 7

Okay, what do I do? I have two crests that are from statues that supposedly appeared out of nowhere. Chances are that the others are here somewhere. Maybe I can get the others to help me search for the other crests…nah, I can't go back. They'll probably yell at me some more, especially Matt. Our relationship right at this moment is…fragile. I shouldn't have yelled at them. I know what I'll do! I'll go and collect them all myself! Then, when they go and battle, I'll come in and save their butts! That'll teach them to disagree with me! Now, if I were a statue with a crest, where would I hide?

"Uhhh, guys? I mean, we pretty much agree that TK is angsting over Patamon, but he still has the right idea. I don't think we should just barge in. That would be just suicide." We were all still in the park. Most of us right now were thinking up a sympathy project for TK, while a select few were still thinking of a plan of action.

"Mimi? Not you, too…Oh, all right, we'll take it easy. By tomorrow, if they haven't shown signs of aggression, we'll quietly sneak into their encampment and see what they're planning." Yolei, Sora, Palmon and I had finally wore Davis down into submission. You know how I hate fighting...

"Wow, Davis is actually listening to someone! Quick, someone get a camera!"

"Yolie, shut up! I'm listening to him, even though I don't want to."

I looked over to where Sora and Biyomon were making a wreath and a card. "Poor TK! I remember the first time Patamon was deleted! He just wasn't the same!"

"I know, Biyomon. He's the only one of us that ever lost a digimon, beside Ken, and he's lost Patamon twice!" I had forotten about that. Man, the poor little guy has had it rough...

I seriously think that you should go to my lab in the Digital World! Maybe we can learn something about what's going on!>

>And I'm telling you that I can't go to the Digital World! My digivice is missing! And I can't go to the others and ask them to take me to the digital world! 

My, my! We certainly are in a predicament, aren't we?>

>Yes, we are… I was aimlessly walking through downtown Odaiba. I was still looking for a statue that might have a crest. Well, there's nothing over in the park. Hmmm…there has to be a reason why those statues were where they were. What connection is there between Joe and that bridge? And what about Mimi and the convention center? Wait…no…it couldn't be _that_ simple, could it? I began running to where I thought the next crest would be.

Hey, where are you going?>

>I believe I had what you scientific folk call an 'enlightenment.' 

OH! I love those! So, did you have an idea about how to get to the digital world?>

>Not…quite… I was more concerned about the crests right now. If my 'theory' is correct, then what I am looking for is right around the corner…aha, BINGO! Across the street from me was a large brownish building with a large sphere on the top: the TV station. On the roof was a small speck of white. Just what I was looking for! But how do I get up there? >Get ready! We're going on a commando mission through the TV station! 

Why?>

>Because, even though my dad works there, I'm still not allowed in. We have to get to the roof. 

Exactly, why? Why go through the building when you can just fly up there?>

I stopped and stared, dumbfounded. Why…go through…when I can just…fly…I wanted to whack him and his know-it-all-ness. Why can't I ever think of such obvious things? Anyway, looking to make sure no one else was looking at me, I thought of earlier today and flying (in case you haven't noticed, it's my favorite part). I felt all weird again. Then, I felt the small but still unfamiliar weight on my back that were my wings. That still sounds creepy, but I guess I'm used to it, now.

I feel like superman, scaling buildings in a single bound. But, I actually have enough sense not to wear tights; instead I wear a cloak and magically change clothes just by thinking about it. Behold my mental power! Anyway, there I was on top of the TV station, looking at another one of those statues. This time, it was an angel looking at the sky and reaching up as if to grab something. Hmmm, no glow this time. Well, you can't expect all of them to be easy, can you? I went up to her and looked around. Nothing. I sat on the ground, thinking. >I wonder what she's trying to touch? 

I don't know! Don't ask me! Do I look like I know everything?>

>Actually…yes. Well, let's see what she's trying to reach, shall we? It's better than nothing, and it might provide a clue. I get up and stand two inches in front of her. I look up. There's nothing but blue sky. I see the sun. It is still in the afternoon, so it is right in front of me. Wait…is she trying to reach the sun? Let's see…I reach, just like her, to the sun. Woah! Okay I'm blinded! Really! All I can see is bright, bright light! I turn away, hopefully saving my eyes, to bump into the statue. All it does is smile, then fly away…fly away? Why is it flying away? I feel a slight tingling then suddenly lurch forward onto the floor.

It took about five minutes for my eyes to adjust to the significant brightness difference. Once I could see clearly, I noticed that something wasn't right. Good one, Takeru, that's the understatement of the century. It was already dark out! But, it was still afternoon two seconds ago! Looking at the sky, I see it's just after sunset. But…why? I look at the pink crest that somehow managed to appear in my hand just sitting nonchalantly. "This wouldn't be your fault, would it?" It didn't do anything, in case you were wondering.

"Okay, now that I know where all of you are, it will be easier to find you. However, the question still remains on how to get to the digital world, where I believe the rest of you are hidden." I was back in my room, looking at the three crests that were on the bed in front of me, in my paranormal state. It was really easy to figure out where the crests were hidden; however, only one of the original digi-destined would be able to figure out where they were. You see, they are hidden in the first place that they were activated. Ikkakumon first digivolved into Zudomon near that bridge. Lillymon first entered the scene in front of the convention center, and Gatomon digivolved to Angewomon to beat Myotismon on that roof. Everyone else's crest, including mine, should be in the digi-world. But, how to get there…Ring Ring Not now…

"Moshi Moshi! This is Takeru speaking."

"For once, you actually answered your phone, today! I feel honored…"

"Matt, what do you want?"

"There's something I want to tell you…"

"What? Did you decide to disband the 'Teenage Wolves'? I know a lot of people that wouldn't be happy about that…"

"No, TK, my band is still intact. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, though. Ummm…can you meet me at the park?"

"That serious, huh?"

"…I'm afraid so. Listen, could you come please? And, look, I'm really sorry about Patamon…"

"…Patamon?"

"Yeah, Gennai said that he died…he says that he's working on a way to retrieve him from whatever is preventing him from being reconfigured."

"…okay, that sounds…nice…" Speaking of Patamon, where did he go? I hope I didn't accidentally leave him in the future…I knew that Patamon was in his spirit form right now, even though that would be a pendant. That's probably why Gennai can't retrieve his data.

"So, can you come? Please?"

"Well…alright. But, this had better be worth my getting up and out the door."

"It is…it is."

"Good. See you in a couple of minutes." Great, and I was just getting comfy, too…oh well, let's see what my brother has gotten himself into this time. Last time he wanted to tell me something at the park, he was suspended for the first time for tardiness. Oh well, let's just hope I don't have to get a job and pay for bail. I pocketed the crests, put on my shoes and went out the door.

The park seemed eerily tranquil, tonight. I wonder what storm will follow this calm. Anyway, I proceed down the path to where my brother and I usually meet when one of us says 'the park.' It's a crossroads of sorts, underneath a great oak tree. I looked ahead of me and froze. It wasn't Matt that was waiting for me. I should've realized what this was before he even said the first word. I quickly dived into the bushes next to me to avoid being seen, which JUST SO HAPPENED to be rose bushes…yeah, that's a BIIIG **_O-U-C-H! _**Of course, painful injuries such as this require a bloodcurdling scream that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. If the ruler of China isn't deaf right now, consider it a miracle.

I received a phone call from Sora about twenty minutes ago. She said to meet her here underneath this oak tree. She seemed pretty distraught. I wonder what the matter is? "Gatomon, you wouldn't happen to know what this is all about, would you? It isn't like Sora to be late."

"I'm sorry, Kari, but I don't know anyth…" A loud, haunting scream filled the air and cut off Gatomon. It almost didn't sound human, like it was a mix of a man's voice and that of a beast's. In fact, it almost sounded draconic.

"Wha…What was that?"

"I don't know, Kari! I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It doesn't sound friendly though. We'd better stay away."

"What are you talking about? It sounds hurt! We need to help it! Come on! I, uh, think it came from this direction!" I pointed down a path with rose bushes down it. I think I guessed right, because just then a silver-haired demon with a brown cloak and big, black wings emerged from the bushes in a not-altogether happy mood. I hate it when I'm right.

This bush…THIS BUSH IS GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!! But how to do it? Hmmm…my hands start searching my person and find those daggers…I have a feeling they're supposed to be mine. I'm not sure; it's just a feeling. A feeling that 99 times out of 100 is right. I pull one out, the dark one by chance, and just start slashing away at the bush. "YOU…INFERNAL...ROSE…BUSH…ARE…GOING…TO…DIE!!!" It hurt! What can I say? THORNS HURT!!

Of course, it took me about 10 seconds to realize that I had just leveled an area about 50 ft. around me already. Wow, that's some dagger. Maybe I'll just keep it…

"Celestial Arrow!" WHAM Okay, first I receive an acupuncture treatment from a rose bush, now I'm being attacked by one of my friends. This just isn't my day…at least it didn't hurt that much…maybe it was a warning shot…

"Gatomon? You digivolved!"

"I don't know why! I felt a surge of power coming from him that I somehow used to digivolve!" Kari nodded, and then turned to face me.

"Who are you? What are you doing here, creature of darkness?"

"…Nice to see you, too, Kari and Angewomon."

"Wha? How did you know our names?" Well, I guess I worried too much about their recognizing me. I doubt that she would even think that I could ever be her Takeru…

"I know a lot about you, Hikari Kamiya. Definitely more than you know about me. And, I intend to keep it that way. So, let's be good little children and pretend that we never saw each other…" I brushed back my hair and turned to walk away.

"Ha! As if! Heaven's Charm!" A pink shockwave of light was aimed straight toward me. I might be in trouble…

Another pink light filled the area, from my pocket this time. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crest of light. The light from the crest absorbed the light from the attack. I quickly put the crest back so Kari wouldn't see that I had it.

"What? How could you…?"

"Like I said, let's pretend we never saw each other. I'm not your enemy anyway. Your enemy is far, _far_ worse. Good night." I flew off into the sky, heading back to my apartment. Odaiba sure looks different from the air…_much_ prettier.

"Kari! Kari, are you okay?"

"Tai!" I see Tai and Matt, run up to me. "Matt! Am I glad to see you!"

"What happened, Kari?" My brother always makes a point to be straight and to the point when it comes to my safety.

"I don't really know, Tai. A demon came out of those rose bushes…" I look over to where our 'battle' took place. The plants were back! But how? That demon leveled the area! Wait, where's the sidewalk?

"A demon? Wow, Kari, are you OK? Angewomon, were you able to drive him away?"

"No…but that's strange! When the demon came out, he used a very powerful attack that leveled all that area! But, everything's back to normal! How strange…"

The other two digimon sniffed the area. "No, you are right, Kari. I sense residue from an attack of darkness here. Maybe, he didn't want to hurt the plants?"

"Maybe, Gabumon, maybe. Anyways, something made Gatomon digivolve into Angewomon, though we don't know what. But, that demon…he knew our names…yet, he didn't want to attack us. He was even able to absorb Angewomon's attacks…"

"Gee, Matt. It must be really important if you brought the Kamiyas with you." There he was! It was…Takeru…

"TK!"

"You're late, little bro."

"Sorry. I did that to make you angry. So, what's this big secret that you couldn't tell me on the phone? And, why is the sidewalk broken over there?" He pointed to the 'scene.'

"Should I tell him, or would you like to?" I gestured to Matt.

"Oh…this involves Kari, huh? How so? I wouldn't happen to be an uncle, now would I, Matt?"

"Ha, ha, TK, very funny. NO! Kari was just attacked by a demon, and we're trying to figure out what could have happened."

"Really? You could've told me that over the phone…"

"Well, this happened after I called you. So, do you have any ideas, smart alec?"

"Not really, did he say anything? Anything at all?"

"Yes, yes he did. He said that…that he wasn't after me and that our true enemy is far worse. Something like that."

"Well, then, that clears that up! Unless, of course, he attacked you…"

"He did one attack that leveled the whole area, but that was it. Angewomon beat him, didn't you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say _that…_"

"Yeah, he flew off in cowardice. But, he didn't really attack us."

"Then, that answers your question, Matt. This guy, demon or not, doesn't seem to be a bad guy. He even gave us advice: 'Your true enemy is far worse.' "

"All right, where's my brother? The _real _TK would probably care that Kari was attacked by a demon! The _real_ TK would probably be swearing revenge and personally hunting down the demon himself. "

"Sorry, Matt. I just don't seem to be myself today…so, is that all you called me here for? Or, did you call me here for nothing?"

"Oh yeah…"

"Oh yeah…? Doesn't sound death-defying or important at all, does it?"

"Now, now, you two, don't fight. I confess, it was Matt's idea to have TK and Kari meet, help TK through his depression, and kiss, schmooze, whatever, but apparently this foiled it up."

"Tai!"

"I see. Well, Matt, thanks for waking me up for nothing. Here I am thinking that you're in jail or in serious trouble with the law or something and it's just some friendly visit. I'm sorry. Oh, and I still think that you shouldn't just waltz right in, like that. I seriously don't want you dead." With that, I left. My brother and Tai for some reason are always trying to play 'match-maker' between Kari and me. So, I'm used to it. But, the plants…I could swear that the plants were destroyed by my wild dagger swings…this is just too much. I need to get to sleep. I haven't slept, really, since I woke up this morning to find out I was, well, what I am.

Well, that was exciting to say the least. You may want to be careful from now on, though. I could sense that your friends don't think too highly of your 'demon' form.>

>You could, could you? How nice for you…Well, our next problem is how to get into the digital world…any ideas? 

You could steal one of your friends' digivices!>

>Nah, that wouldn't be a good idea. Plus, there's no guarantee that I can actually use someone else's digivice. 

Ah, well, I'll brainstorm, and you sleep on it. Together, we should come up with something…>

At this point I was outside my apartment. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. I made my way to the bed. I was tired; from becoming a demon, to being chased by Leomon, to being catapulted into the future, to being attacked by Kari…I'd say this day was pretty eventful. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

Where am I? I was in a room with a lot of light and statues…I remember! Patamon said this was a representation of my mind! This church or temple or something was supposed to represent how other people perceived me. Well, this was a nice place enough. I complement the builder with the stunning architecture, but it's a bit too white for my taste. Hey, on the altar there, aren't those…the crest statues? Yeah, there was the angel, the forest sprite and the seal, but in color! What are they doing here?

"Hello, Takeru! How are you?" Okay, the statues were talking to me, and they're inside my mind!

"Uh…hi."

"It's a lovely place, isn't it? Much nicer than some of the other minds that we've seen." The angel statue then moved toward me. "You wouldn't want to know what's in Kari's mind. Oh! How silly of me! I didn't introduce myself! I'm Mon no Hikari!" She pointed to herself. She had long blonde hair, with a white and pink robe and 2 angelic wings. "This is Mon no Shinraisei."

"Call me Shin. It's much shorter." She pointed to a man standing where the seal was. But…two seconds ago…I'll just pretend nothing happened and that everything is hunky-dory. The man had a sealskin hood that covered all of his head except his mouth with shiny cerulean hair peeking out bear with me, it's hard to describe things sometimes. He had an aqua vest and tattered shorts, but no shirt on underneath or shoes.

"And this is Mon no Seijitsusa."

"Please, please, sis! I told you to call me Hama! It's less clunky!" It was the sprite's turn now. She had emerald green hair, translucent wings and was wearing a short-sleeve forest green dress that went down to the knees and had a slit on the left side up to the hips. There was a Sakura flower in her hair.

"Well, Takeru, now that you know us better, you're probably wondering why we're here, in your mind. Unfortunately, we can't tell you that yet. But wait, let me just check something really quickly…" What was she doing? She was touching my hair and playing with it!

"Excuse me…what are you doing?" She seemed satisfied if a bit shocked when she stopped.

"…Ah! I wasn't expecting that! How interesting…Oh, by the way, you know, you should really tell Kari that you don't like her that way. Trust me." She winked at me.

"What? What is interesting?"

"…I'm not going to tell you details. I just wasn't expecting that you would be…like you are. Anyway, we'll probably be staying here for a while, so you'll just have to trust me that we won't mess up your mind while we are here."

"Ah…I'll trust you." Okay, why am I dreaming about my mind and statues that are talking to me? Deciding to keep whatever sanity I had left, I took my leave from Mon no-san and went over to where I remember my 'real' mind was. That's funny; there are some cracks on the wall. That's weird. Anyway, I went into my secret base that I created on the island, or my mental fabrication of it, at least.

Oh, you're here!>

>Hello…Nakra. I followed him down into the cave into a large laboratory.

This is where I spend my time in your mind. It's convenient, isn't it? I thought that maybe if we couldn't get into the Digital World, I could bring you here, into your mind, which is an exact replica of the island. Ah, here we are.> We reached a long table that one sees in doctor's offices or surgical rooms. Sit down, please.>

>Umm…what exactly are you going to do to me? 

Nothing too excruciating. I'll just collect a sample of your blood, and then we'll test it according to my pathology textbook.>

>Collect a sample of my blood? What are you…? Before I could finish my sentence, he stabbed me with a small syringe in the arm. >What the…? 

If you don't expect it, it doesn't hurt as much. I've learned as much from my studies.>

>Yeah, it still hurts, though… 

You'll get over it. It's all in your mind, anyway. Let's see. Well, you have A- type blood…wow, your red blood cells are irregularly shaped for more oxygen capability…your hemoglobin isn't based on iron like it's supposed to be…in other words, your blood is all wrong...let's see what we have here…ah, here it is. Hmm…an R-type virus…I haven't seen anything like it before.>

>What? You don't know what it is? 

Be patient, be patient. This book lists all viral pathogens known to any and all humans. Let's see…R-type viruses…HIV, no…polio, not really…influenza, nowhere close…wait a minute…triangular-shaped protein knobs…elongated shape…I think I've found it. Let's see…ah, no wonder. This pretty much explains everything.>

>Wha? What's going on? 

You, my friend, are infected with a mutated version of the Ifrit virus. Because of that, I doubt anyone ever stood a chance, after all…>

>Ifrit virus? I've never heard of it. 

I doubt you have. It's supposedly a myth, although if it were a myth, then it wouldn't be in this book. '_Among the most deadly viruses in the world, none are as mysterious or powerful as the Ifrit virus. Believed to have been used by early Anglo-Saxon Druids and other pagan sects of the era, no one else has ever been able to isolate the virus due to its ability to disappear upon the death of the host. The druids used the virus to induct new members. Supposedly, if the host were physically able to handle the pressures of black magic, then they would be immune to the disease. They would show minor symptoms like a cough or indigestion. However, if the recruit was not able to cast dark magic, then they would die within a half-hour of infection. The disease, thankfully, is non-communicable and does not remain in the body after a failed infection. It can only be transmitted by a direct transfusion into the blood.'_ So, what do you think? Does it match our virus?>

>There are definite correlations. But, the virus we're looking for should be contagious and able to be transmitted freely, shouldn't it? 

It isn't an exact replica. Your virus is mutated. My guess is that this virus was specifically genetically engineered for mass genocide.>

>Which means that these druids or other dark sects must have access to such technology. Although, I'm more concerned about how to stop them. Can you create a vaccine? 

I could try…it wouldn't be easy, though.>

>Well, do your best. You have a version of the pathogen right there and the tools necessary all around you. With a quick nod, I left up to the stairs to my base and plopped myself onto a beanbag chair. So, our foes are a group of ancient pagan ritualists? Not only that, but they are supposedly 'invincible'…this may be harder than I thought…


	9. The rest of the Crests

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry if I've been meglecting my thanks! OH, and that person who reviewed who I forgot who it was: I had already planned to do something to that effect althought it's a slightly different concept as you'll see. Oh, before I forget, I'm so sorry, but this chapter is going to be a bit rushed...

TK: ahem

Me: Okay, near the end it's so rushed, it could win the Boston Marathon hands down. However, I just wanted to get the collecting of the crests over with so I could finally move the plot along somewhat. I'm so sorry.

The chorus of voices in TK's head: (English transltion)

> : TK himself

>: The Sage Nakra (my own character for reasons you'll see later on)- Not much is known about him. TK picked him up in his short jaunt to the future. He is very intelligent, but can be annoying at times.

_Patamon_: TK's Digimon that is currently in his spirit form and is missing.

The Mon no (Crest of) family:

sh >: Shinraisei (Reliability), also Shin (Genuine)- The Reliability family member. Has control over water and has commendable expertise in healing and potion making. Wears a seal-skin over his head, although his face is still visible. Also, has aqua colored clothing

ha >: Seijitsusa (Sincerity), though prefers Hama (Flower)- The Sincerity member. Is pure and innocent and cares for all living things. Loves her big sister, Koi, to death. Has pixie wings, green hair and wears a green dress.

hi >: Hikari (Light, not to be confused with Hikari Kamiya)- The Light member. Tries to act as a peacemaker, though not always successful. She is an angel with a pink robe.

yo >: Yujo-Okami (Friendship-Wolf)- The Friendship member. Has control over ice. Fittingly, he has a cold personality and does not get along with Shin for some reason. Wears a wolf-skin that covers most of his face except for the mouth. The rest of his body is also covered by furs.

ch >: Chishiki (Knowledge)- The Knowledge member. Knows almost everything there is to know about everything. Obviously gets along well with Nakra. Wears dark robes with a monocle and short purple hair.

_Koi_ (love): The Love member, and the eldest of the eight siblings (I'm not including Kindness for reasons of my own). Is the caretaker and always seems sad for some reason. No one has ever seen her human form except her siblings.

ry >: Ryu-Yuki (Dragon-Courage): The Courage member. Very flashy and showy. Always wants to impress and intimidate. Wears leather everything and has flaming hair with dragon wings out of his back.

Chapter 9

"This is not how I imagined I would be spending my week off from school." Among the voices in my head and myself, we had not come up with any way into the Digital World. So, Nakra, being the scholarly spirit that he is, suggested we read up about the druids that we were supposedly facing. That's where I am right now, the library. Unfortunately, most of the books in the section had nothing that we wanted. Most had only general or vague information.

"'The druids were a pagan sect that originally were located in England. They may have created Stonehenge…' Argh, we aren't getting anywhere. I'm leaving."

ha But, at least you found out everything there is to know about Stonehenge !> She was right. All references to any sort of druid sect eventually led to Stonehenge. It was pathetic. I bowed to the librarian on the way out, but stopped. On the sidewalk outside was the entire digi-destined team, heading for the library. Well, except for me, of course, since I was already in the library. >I have an idea. 

hi Oh, what is it? I have a feeling that it involves your friends that we are currently avoiding by hiding behind this shelf. > Yes well, it was the only convenient object to hide behind at the time…

>It does. We'll silently tail them. I have a feeling the group is here since they're currently repairing the school right now. Once they enter the Digital World, I'll jump in after them, and then I'll quickly run away before they notice I'm there. 

I like it! A lot! Switching to Japanese Ninja mode! Hiya!>

>Dude, that sounded weird. Don't ever say that again . Never trust an old person to say something cool, well except for my grandfather…maybe… Anyways, traveling through bookcases, silently following them, we reach the computer area. There were a few close calls. I'm glad the Digimon were currently hiding in the various bags that everyone was carrying. If they were out, they could pose a problem. I have learned through experience that Digimon have ultra-sonic hearing…

"OK, guys. There doesn't seem to be anyone around, so let's go in here. Prodigious! I can access the gate from here!"

"Keep it down, Izzy! We don't want to be heard. Besides, we're on a spying mission, so let's try being stealthy here!" They actually took my advice? I'm shocked! Tai can say the most obvious things, sometimes…have you noticed?

"Fine, fine. Okay, the gate is up. Davis, would you like to do the honors?"

"Okay, Izzy! Digi-port open!" I peered around the corner. Eleven figures with bulky bags disappeared in a flash of light; quickly, now's my chance. I run from behind the shelf into the computer. The familiar traveling through green light and mechanically decorated tunnels goes by quickly, and I find myself on a field, facing a large mass of tangled people on the ground in front of me. I bolted to the bushes.

Tai's POV

We've been doing this for what? Three, four years? And we still haven't perfected this landing? We need to start putting large pillows next to all the TV screens. I think I just broke my back for the fifth time…"Hey, get off me!"

"Oh, uh…sorry, Tai! It was an accident I swear! It was all the portal's fault!" While I am flattered that Davis copies me in almost everything I do, he's one of those people that doesn't know when to quit. It gets annoying after a while. If only I could get a Davis free day just once and be with a certain person the entire day…life would be perfect. But I know that that particular blonde doesn't like me that way. Well, I never asked him, but I don't want to risk it.

"Good. Now that we're all here and in one piece, let's concentrate on the matter at hand." Joe! Why do you always break my train of thought! But, he's right.

"I doubt we'd do much at spying, though. I sensed some foreign spirits in the library. Chances are, they already know we're here."  
"Agumon! Why do you have to be so…" A swish of the bushes behind me broke my sentence. Everyone spun around to where we thought the sound came from. "Agumon?"

"Yes, Tai. It's the same spirit that was in the library."

"But how? Did they follow us?"

"It would seem that way, Sora. That's strange…I'm not getting a reading on my identifier. Whatever is there isn't a Digimon!"

"Then we'll have to be extra careful. Ready, Veemon?"

"You, too Wormmon!"

"Right!"

"If you say so, Ken!" many digivolutions and almost a minute later "IMPERIALDRAMON, FIGHTER MODE!"

"Hurry! According to the sensor, something with tremendous power is moving rapidly about eight kilos (or five miles for you American people) away from us!"

"Wow! It sure can move!" Seriously! That's about…ah, I can't do math.

"That means that this evil ghost…for lack of a better term…can travel at about 420 kph (300 mph)! We need to hurry!"

"Don't worry guys! Leave it to us!" We were all transported into the…'cockpit' of Imperialdramon. After that, we headed to the east toward…Digitamamon's restaurant I believe is near there. So much for our stealthy spy trip, if the enemy can't see us from their camp, then they must be blind…

TK's POV

Dang! Why do they have to be so observant! I almost got caught! I think I lost them though. Naturally I just shifted into my 'other' mode and flew like the Dickens…I always wondered who the Dickens were and why they were so fast as to have a saying named after them. But, now's not the time for silly idle thought. Hey! There's a building up ahead! It looks like a restaurant! Wow! What a coincidence…

"Oh, hey! Sorry, there wing man, but we're closed due to technical difficulties." What appeared to be a large egg with two reptilian feet sprouting out underneath walked out to meet me.

"Hello, Digitamamon. That's not why I'm here, though."

"OH!" He looked excited for some reason. "Then, you must be part of the trash and moving company that's come to take away that ugly statue! You have no idea what it's doing to my business."

Ugly statue…must be Matt's crest statue.

Ha clears throat>

>Sorry. (in a mocking/sarcastic tone) 'It must be another one of the Mon no siblings!' Happy now 

Ha Much happier.>

"Come, mister. You don't look like much, though. Usually, they send a Monochromon or some other bulky digimon to take care of the labor work. You look like you could barely bench fifty! Although, you do look like you could be a Mega, so I wouldn't know. You look like an evil genius digimon that would take over the world; did you know that? Ah, here we are, the kitchen."

We entered the kitchen and, none to my surprise, a pure white statue of a wolf was in the middle of the floor. Since the kitchen was so small, it blocked access to the fridge and ovens. "See? I can't cook because this idiotic statue is here! I can't budge it an inch. Someone must have put it here during the night as a prank."

"I doubt it was a prank. Let me take a look at it." So, I looked around the wolf statue, but there wasn't any blue glow. Hmmm…

sh Try the mouth.>

>Wha 

sh I said, try the mouth. You might find something useful.>

>But why 

hi Just trust us! We would know Yujo-okami better than anyone.>

>Fine, I'll try it 

"Is something the matter? Can you remove the statue?"

"I'll try…but could you please leave the room first?" I didn't want him to see me taking the crest. He obligingly left. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not too thrilled about sticking my hand halfway down a carnivorous animal's mouth. But, I had to do it. So, carefully, I inched my hand toward the statue, knowing full well that if anyone saw me, I'd never hear the end of it; being afraid of a statue…Mon no member…whatever it is…

"Yes!" I felt something necklace shaped. There's only one thing that could be in there that is necklace shaped. "That's four down and four to go. And now, for an extremely weird event that happens whenever I take a crest!" Nothing. Everything was just fine. No sudden bright lights or tidal waves although it _was_ slightly chilly. There must be a draft in here somewhere…the statue didn't disappear either. This is strange…I mean, it isn't strange…but it is…ARGH, this is so confusing…I'll just leave.

Okay, bad idea. Either Digitamamon is having a winter-themed party, or I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I was in the middle of a blizzard! On a mountain slope, too! In the middle of nowhere! It figures the door just disappeared behind me. Where am I, now!

Mimi's POV

"Hey, Imperialdramon, stop! Our target had just vanished into thin air! I can't get a reading on him anywhere!" Izzy's shout had disturbed me from another great daydream. Why can't I get a moment to myself to think?

"What? That's impossible! No one just disappears like that!" I always wondered how Imperialdramon's voice could be plainly heard inside the cockpit. I mean, isn't the glass soundproof?

"Where was he last? We may be able to find him/her or at least know where he went!" Wow, Tai actually had a good idea! I can die happy now!

"Let's see, he was inside a building less than a kilometer from our present position. It looks like it might be Digitamamon's restaurant."

"Why would he be there? Did he stop for a bite to eat?" I mean, villains can be hungry too, ya know?

"I don't know. We'll find out when we get there."

After about a minute, we reached the place. I remember the first time I was here…It was when Yolie got the egg of Sincerity! Man, I was so proud of her!

"Closed? Aw, I wanted to have lunch here while we beat the bad guy!"

"Don't worry Davis. I think Kari packed a picnic for us."

"Did she really, Matt? Did you, Kari?"

"Oh, hello, Digidestined! Aren't you just lucky! You're my first customers in a long time!" Digitamamon had just walked out. He changed the sign from closed to open.

"What? Why is that? Why is your business hurting?"

"A few days ago, some punk thought it was funny to stick a large statue in my kitchen so I couldn't cook! The company finally sent a representative today to take it away. He just finished about a minute ago. He worked pretty fast, too. He left in a hurry, though. I didn't even get to tip him."

We entered the building, and sat down to lunch. We girls had a table to ourselves while Davis, Tai and Matt took one table and Izzy, Cody, Joe and Ken took another. Across from me, Yolie decided to start up a conversation.

"Who would put a statue in his kitchen? I mean, not only is it mean, but why a statue? It doesn't make sense."

"No, Yolie it doesn't. Oh, we should ask him if he's seen that guy we're looking for."

"You're looking for someone? Who?" Digitamamon had come back with our drinks.

Cody, in the booth across from ours, answered him. "We don't exactly know who it is, really. All we know is that his very presence disturbed our Digimon, and he's been following us. We also know that he was in this restaurant about a minute ago."

"Well, the only person who has been here all today was the person to remove the statue. He was here just five minutes ago."

"You said he left in a hurry. Did you actually see him leave? Or did he just vanish?"

"Well, I took him into the kitchen where the statue was. He looked at it for a minute, then asked that I leave the room. I did so, but I didn't hear anything. I went in to see if everything was alright, but both he and the statue were gone."

"Hmmm…what did he look like?"

"Well, he didn't look like the type that could move the statue an inch, but apparently he did. He had silver hair that reached to about the shoulder blades with large, black wings, steel blue-gray eyes and a brown cloak." Kari had visibly paled next to me and had shrunk into the corner between the wall and the seat. Tai and Matt seemed to be in utter shock.

"What's wrong, Kari? Do you know him?"

She managed to stutter out a "That's the Demon that attacked me last night!"

"A demon attacked you last night? Why? How come I hadn't heard of any of this?" Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?

"Because, Mimi, we did not feel it was important at the time to tell everyone. Digitamamon, could you please show us the kitchen?"

"Sure, it's in here."

TK's POV

Why am I always in these situations? I'm on a mountain that I've never been to before with nobody around for miles in the middle of a snowstorm! The snow is up to my knees…it doesn't help that I'm wearing sandals.

yo Suck it up! If you're supposed to be the 'person' that is worthy of my crest, then prove it!>

>Wha? Who's there 

sh Don't worry! It's just that Yujo-Okami can be a bit…mean and aggressive at times. It doesn't fit his name at all…>

yo Shut up, Shin!>

hi See? You just proved it! Now, now! Don't make me get in between you two...>

Having a whole argument between the voices inside your head can really give you a migraine. Plus, it's hard to ignore. So, obviously, I had to do something . >Will you two BOTH SHUT UP! You're giving me a major headache! I don't care if the both of you have to sit in the corner, just BE QUIET 

Ha Nicely done, Takeru! Now, just ask that Gotsumon over there how to get out of here since it's freezing in here, too.>

On the ledge below us was a Gotsumon wearing a scarf. He was looking out onto a barren field at the bottom of the mountain and did not seem to notice us, er, me. I'm going to need serious mental therapy after this. "Hey down there!"

"Wha?" He looked around before finally facing me and stepped back in shock. "Who are you? And what are you doing on Mt. Shinsei?"

"I'm so sorry if I frightened you, but it's not my fault I'm here. It was an accident. Could you just please tell me where this is and how to get to the nearest settlement?"

"I don't trust you! You're going to kill me, aren't you, and take the sacred treasure of Mt. Shinsei! That's why you're here!"

"NO, NO! I don't want your treasure, I just want to know where I am! That's all, I promise!"

"Well…" He didn't seem to be convinced. I don't blame him. However, he finally gave in. "You're on Mt. Shinsei on the northern end of Server. If you go down into the Barren Field and follow the path, you could end up at The Digital Café, Gekomon's Palace, or the Kireina Tenmado Forest depending on which direction you take."

"Thanks, so much!" I flew off until I was over the field. There wasn't any more snow here, but there weren't any living plants, either. In fact, there wasn't much of anything down below, except black sand, dead trees, black sand, a white statue, some trees that were burnt…

ha Uhhh…you're going past a…>

>I SEE IT, OK I'm not in a good mood, right now, OK? I forgot that this is the area where Izzy conquered Vademon. Or, he conquered Vademon in Vademon's space, but that was destroyed. I think.

Anyway, I travel down to the statue; this time it's a bug. How appropriate. To be more specific, it's a human-sized beetle. The crest is wrapped around his head like a circlet. Wow, an easy one for a change. I guess this statue doesn't need much security since no one comes this way. Oh well, can't argue with that.

Oh great. This time I triggered a lightning storm! Any hollowed out trees that were left upright were struck and now the field is on fire. Wait…

"AAHHH!" Ow! Lightning hurts! That last bolt vaporized the statue! Now that I have the crest I should get out of here as soon as possible.

ch ahem Actually, I used the lightning bolt as energy to transport myself into your mind. The process is quite fascinating even if I do say so myself… > Ah, yes! Another crest, another voice inside my head…

yo Hello, Chishiki. It's not good to see you…>

Well, could it possibly be that another man that is gifted in science has come into this merry assortment? Oh, you and I must get together and discuss photochemistry sometime.>

ch I look forward to it.>

sh That's nice and all, but let's get working on that vaccine. The three of us should be able to come up with something.>

You, my good fellow? You do not strike me as someone who is gifted in the art of drug making, Mr. Sealskin.>

sh That is because I have not dabbled into your human's so-called 'medicines.' I am skilled at compounding and am a gifted healer. I do not make those nasty pills that you think so highly of.>

Sorry.>

yo Ha! You? A skilled potion maker? Give me a break. You couldn't even cure my cold without turning it into influenza first!>

ha Now, now, let's not start WWIII here…>

sigh I _so_ wish that I had a button to turn off all these pointless conversations in my head…

Ken's POV

"That's weird."

Cody's verbal musing had popped me from my own. I was contemplating how a person could just disappear like that from the scanner. "I know. Having someone disappear like that especially when you're chasing after them using a scanner like Izzy's."

"No. I mean I ordered Mayo on my Chicken Sandwich, but I got Ketchup and Mustard instead."

"Ah, well…Hey, since we're talking about it, Izzy, have you been able to find him, yet?"

"No, Ken. I made a network connection with Gennai, and we're currently working in tandem to try and locate him. We've swept the entire digital world about four times and we haven't found a trace of any sort of spirit. The only thing that we've picked up is a large magnetic storm to the north. That may be blocking our computers, but we doubt anything inside it would survive anyway."

Joe, always perking up at the sound of danger, decided to comment on this. "Wow, sounds pretty powerful. Are you sure it won't affect us?"

"The storm is only about 50 km to the north, but it appears to be stationary. We'll have to take the long way around though if we're going to go into the enemy camp."

"I see. That would be the most logical choice. We don't want to get fried. Plus, it's what we came here for, and I doubt searching for our missing demon will turn out results."

"That's pretty much what I'm thinking right now." Digitamamon had just returned for our desert selections. "Ah, for desert I'll just have a decaf coffee."

TK's POV

"Let's see…if I remember correctly, Sora's crest should be in the forest to the west. Then, I'll only have to get Tai's and mine, then I've got them all."

ha How nice for you. But even nicer for me! I'll finally have someone to talk to in here! Hika is too busy playing peacemaker between Shin and Yujo to chat with me…>

>I know how you feel… 

Well, we made it to the forest. It's actually quite pretty. And it's very peaceful…I should come here more often. This stream sets a very romantic setting…I don't remember it being this picturesque. Time to scour the forests for a statue.

two hours later

Why? Why is this taking forever? I have traveled through this entire forest for the past forever, and not a speck of white…

yo Why don't you try to search for Koi from the skies? You could have better luck finding her…>

>What? You're actually helping me? I feel honored. 

yo Well, Shin locked himself in the lab, so I'm bored.>

Not overlooking the opportunity of this person who obviously had some issues being nice to me, I took his advice and searched from above the trees. I still could not find anything. Of course, that was before I collided with something. Something hard, like a statue of a giant phoenix that was flying above me. I must say that it's very stunning. But why is that no one ever thinks to look up?

Ha I don't know, but I do believe you found Koi.>

Now that I found the statue and am trying to keep up with it, where is the crest? I don't see an aura…scratch that, there it is! There was a large red glow coming from… inside the statue. It seemed that the crest was somehow where the heart would normally be. Why would it be there? Wait, wait, wait…it's the crest of love! DUH!

But, how do I get it? I don't want to wreck the statue! She's turning towards me! I can see her face! The eyes are made of crystal…probably diamond. She looks…sad…what is she doing? She's…nodding her head…and motioning to…her body. She wants me to destroy her? She's nodding again…can she read my mind?

_Yes, I can. Please, you must do it to save the world. I'm sorry, but you could please look after my younger brothers and sisters for me? I knew that this must happen._

"Um…But why? Why must you sacrifice yourself?"

_It is necessary for the recreation of the Crest of Miracles._

"The Crest of Miracles?"

_Yes. You were the one that broke the barrier of the crest. You can piece it together using the 8 crests not including Kindness. The other one who was supposed to obtain it unknowingly gave up that chance in order to defeat Kimeramon and MaloMyotismon. You were then selected as the failsafe although now that we have thought about it, you turned out much better than the original could have been. You should have been our primary choice._

"The original…Davis?"

_Yes, I do believe that is his name. He exhausted his spirit when he summoned the Digi-Egg of Miracles and the Supreme Cannon. We knew that he could not perform well if he had accepted the crest. However, we did not want to activate the failsafe yet. You already had the Crest of Hope, which was almost as powerful in its own right. But, we had no choice. Now please, take the crest from within me!_

"Wait…why was I chosen? Why do we need the crest of Miracles? Is it because of the virus-carrying druids?"

_They are not druids, but far worse. They are not of this world or yours. Only something imbued with the power of the Crest of Miracles can damage them. For example, a digimon that is digivolved using the crest can demolish them. Your daggers can easily do the task as well._

"My daggers?" I reach down to the sheath and pull out the 'light' one.

_Yes. Now please…do it._

"But…"

_Please…you must._

"A…alright." I didn't want to do it, but she gave me no choice. I raised the dagger high. She closed her eyes. I brought it down swiftly across where the crest was. Koi shattered in a brilliant burst of sacred radiance. The crest materialized in my hand along with her eye crystals and a small orb with…sand? It must be some of the dust that was formerly Koi and that is covering the entire woods. Rest in peace, Koi…the forest will forever shimmer with your love…I sound like a sappy romance novel.

MIMI's POV

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Wha? What's wrong? Sora! Biyomon! SORA!" I don't know what happened! Sora just seemed hurt for some reason then screamed out loud and fainted into her ice cream!

"Sora? SORA! What happened, Mimi?"

"I don't know! One minute they were just fine, the next both Sora and Biyomon had passed out!"

"Let me see her." Thank God that Joe is a doctor! "She doesn't seem too good…she's going into a coma! We need to get her to the hospital, now! I don't know what to do about Biyomon. Maybe Gennai can take care of her. But, we need to get Sora out of here!"

"Joe…"

"Let's go!"

"We might as well. A large windstorm suddenly appeared to the northwest. There's no way we could reach the enemy camp by nightfall. Man, we are sure having the strangest weather today…"

TK's POV

I must say that this is the first day in my life that I have almost died from hypothermia _and_ heat stroke in the same day! This desert is sssoooooo hot! The sooner I get Tai's crest, the sooner I can leave!

Ha sniff Big sis…>

>Please don't cry, Hama. I'm sure Koi is somewhere in heaven. At least Shin and Yujo aren't fighting! And my head is almost all better since you guys are all so quiet…>

Ha sniff You're right. Let's just concentrate on finding Ryu-Yuki.>

>I don't think we have to find him. I think he found us. 

_WHO DARES DISTURB THE SLUMBER OF THE DREADED MON NO RYU-YUKI? SPEAK NOW!_

True to his name, a large fire dragon had landed in front of me. He was mostly reddish amber all over except for a white belly that protruded somewhat. He was over 20 ft. tall. Naturally, I was a bit intimidated. "Uh yeah, I'm…"

_He's the Keeper of Miracles, Ryu. Which means that you should obey him and hand over the Courage Crest! _Hey, who's that? Let's see…a wolfskin covering his head with long nails and fangs coming out of his mouth? Could it be Yujo? In fact, all of the Mon no family thus far was there, outside my mind. There was also a bookish scholar with a monocle, robes and short purple hair. Was that Chishiki?

_Awww! Yujo-Okami! I wanted to have a little fun! No one lives here to torment! Oh well, here you go, kid._ Now that's more like it although a bit anti-climactic. He then reverted to a human with flaming red hair with dragon wings that oddly looked like mine. Strange. Oh well, only one left! But…where is Piedmon's lair? Great…I hadn't thought of that. It could be anywhere!

Ry Or…we could all combine our powers and teleport you there instantly!>

>You could really do that? You're the best 

Ry Well, we normally can't. However, the author gave us the power to do it just this once because she wants to hurry us up.>

>Well, in that case… In a quick flash, I was in Piedmon's lair. It hadn't changed at all; it was still just like a circus. There were trapeze swings and magic rope that led to the ceiling. I need to find my statue. But, I don't see anything…maybe I should go over to the rope? Angemon digivolved when I was falling off the rope, so maybe…?

I walk over to the edge. I don't see any statues…but I do see…

"PATAMON!" Well, he was still in the form of a pendant, but he was still Patamon! He was floating in the air, spinning around with none other than my crest! I proceeded to place Patamon on before I grabbed the crest.

>Patamon! Oh man, I missed you 

_I missed you too, TK! Where were you? I don't know what happened, but after that large light, I somehow found myself here! I must say it's been pretty boring just spinning in the same place over and over and over and over and you get the idea. I'm so dizzy._

hi It's nice to see you, Kibo…>

>Kibo? Don't tell me… 

_Yes, I am the Hope child of the Mon no family, the only one to be converted into a Digimon. But, now that all of us are here, you can create the Crest of Miracles!_

>Really? How? First, let me get out of here. This brings back too many bad memories…I feel like I'm about to be assaulted by evil clowns… 

a few minutes later

>Okay, now that we are out of there and have gotten ourselves completely lost, how do we form the Crest of Miracles 

hi Well, it's quite simple. Pick a rock. Any rock.>

Pick a rock? What? Oh well, that big one in the lone sunbeam in the clearing looks like a good choice (I know it's screaming "Pick Me!" "Pick Me!"). >Well, now what 

ch Place all the crests on the rock. We'll do the rest.> Sounds simple enough. One, two, three. four, five, six, seven, eight! All there!

_Great! Now on the count of three…one…two…THREE!_

I was temporarily blinded at this moment. When I could see, all that was on the rock was a white crest that I had seen before, a D3 that was gold and black, and…

"Patamon! You're back to normal! Well sort of…transparent normal!"

"Sorry, TK, but I'm Magna Patamon, now! Since you have the Crest of Miracles, all of my digivolutions are different."

"Well, how about that. Come on, I want to go home. It's been a long day."


	10. A Visit of Charity

I did not purposefully decide to wait this long to post this chapter...it was done about a few months ago, but on that day I guess my computer was having problems because I couldn't upload it...and after that...I forgot...I have a very bad problem with forgetfulness...

Chapter 9

He had never liked going into the chamber, and no one could blame him. He had been the messenger for the master for almost 5 months now. Normally, that would be a short amount of time, but this was an exception. His master wasn't exactly known for calmness of the mind. In fact, Lord Drogomon was infamous among the realm of shadow as being the worst person to cross beside maybe the head hancho himself. 'At least,' thought the relatively tiny Scubamon, 'I'm bringing good news today. But, he specifically said for no one to bother him.' "gulp Here I go…"

As fitting the master's size, Drogomon's chamber was understandably large. In fact you could probably fit a large forest inside, and still have enough room to breathe. It was in the largest cavern near the deepest trench in the entire Ocean of Despair. It consisted of a grand hallway approximately 200 meters tall and twice that many wide. The hallway went on for a ways until you reached the throne. Obviously, the room expanded outward at this point. The throne itself where the master usually waited was constructed purely from pearl. One could only imagine how long it took to gather enough oysters to construct it. This time, however, the chamber had shrunk to normal size. The scubamon, unfazed by this magic act, cautiously stepped down the hall until he saw his master in a human-like form flirting with three Earth girls. He had jet-black hair that was tied back into a long, sleek ponytail that reached down to his knees. Long bangs covered his forehead and ears. He was wearing a dark navy kimono with a long, sea green sash. Seeing his messenger, he dismissed the three 'ladies' into his bedchamber and turned towards the unwanted visitor with a scowl.

"I had thought that I had given specific orders not to be disturbed! What is going on? What is so drastically important that you interrupted me?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Drogomon, but I have wonderful news! The barrier protecting the Digital World and Real World has vanished"

"Really, now? Tell me then, messenger, how is it possible that humans are in my palace if I hadn't known that the barrier was down? Hm?" His master's deceitfully calm voice had a slight tint of anger and annoyance in it. It was obvious that this particular Scubamon might not last longer. However, he continued, knowing full well that this next piece of information had not reached Drogomon yet, and that it was something that he would find to be interesting.

"May I continue, sir? There's more..."

"Go on. But, make it quick. I can't keep people waiting forever you know…And, I wonder what they would think if I came in covered with your blood…Not a good sight at all and terrible for my image."

"Well, you see…it involves the Hope Child."

"The Hope Child…? Oh, yes…that blond kid that had spoiled my plans and then inadvertently sealed off the Ocean of Despair. I hope he isn't well."

"Not well at all, milord. Our spies were working overtime after the barrier fell, and we found out about a third party, one from a different world from the three that we know of."

"Really, well I hadn't heard of any of this. Is this group willing to help us or fight us."

"I don't think they want to help us, per se, but they plan on wiping out humanity just the same."

"This sounds interesting…but, what does this have to do with the Takaishi kid?"

"They…killed him, sir."

"WHAT?" Drogomon's temper flared for a second or two. Normally, he would be very happy that the child who was the antithesis of his world was gone. However, he wanted to be the one to do it, not some other, neutral party. His reputation would go out the window. But, then he thought about it some more…"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Our scanners and genetic trackers can find no trace of him in any of the known worlds."

"Hmm…Messenger? Are you still there?"

"Um…yes, sir?" 'Here it is,' he thought…

"Please contact General Daemon and tell him to meet me here first thing in the morning. Tell him that it's extremely urgent and under no circumstances is he to skip it. Understand?"

"Yes, milord, right away." 'Phew…'

Drogomon watched as the messenger ran out of the room. He remembered about three years back to when the demonic digimon first entered the Sea of Despair. They shared many emotions, thoughts, likes and dislikes and became respected allies. Drogomon was clearly the better of the two, and never let the red-cloaked digimon forget it. Daemon was now his commanding general…under himself, of course. "Well, I'd better get back to my room. I don't like to make people wait…especially the Child of Light…"

---

The scene in the waiting room was terribly grim, but more so from silence than the diagnosis. It was now 11:30 at night, and still there had not been any news about Sora's condition. The various Digidestined were all finding something to do to occupy their time, but after waiting for 3 hours, even the most patient were getting restless. They had called Mr. And Mrs. Takenouchi almost immediately after they reached the hospital and they waited with them ever since. Matt had tried to call his brother, but either TK wasn't answering or he was already asleep, so he left a…few…messages on his cell phone, and an equal amount of e-mails in his box.

Tai and Matt were having a nice game of cards with Izzy and Joe. They had started out with normal 5-card stud, then moved on to Spades, Texas Hold-em, Rummy, BS, Hearts, even Bridge. Now, for lack of anything else to do, they were playing a heart-pounding game of…Go Fish.

Mimi, Yolie and Kari were sitting in the corner. At the beginning they were having the occasional talk while Mimi was braiding the other girls' hair. Then was a not so exciting game of Truth or Dare, before they eventually settled on reading magazines.

Which left everyone else (Davis, Cody, Ken, Mr. & Mrs. Takenouchi) to watch TV. It was currently tuned to Comedy Central; however, barely a chuckle was heard every five minutes or so.

Half an hour later, around midnight, a kindly middle-aged doctor appeared through the door. Immediately all focus was on her. Not a noise was heard until she decided to clear her throat. "I assume you're all here for Ms. Sora Takenouchi?"

There were various grunts, nods and other gestures universally known as "Yes" all around the room including hai's, yup's and an "affirmative" from Izzy. The lady continued. "Well, simply put, we're completely baffled. We've done full-scale scans, MRI's, blood samplings, but we have absolutely no idea why she isn't conscious or that she should be sick at all in the first place."

"W-wait a minute…what exactly are you saying?"

The doctor sighed before leaning against the door frame for support. Apparently, she was very tired. "I thought I was quite clear. There's nothing wrong with her. As far as we can tell, she's as normal and healthy as any person in this room, probably healthier! But, she's obviously not…"

---

"Wake Up, TK! There's someone here!" Magna Patamon's voice, still the exact same as Patamon's, woke me up from my sleep.

"Wha?" It took me about five minutes to stand up and register this remark in my head. What? Don't tell me that you're not a little slow in the morning, too! "Wait, someone's in the apartment? Who?"

"Hm. You'll just have to find out! Hm hm!" With that, he fazed into the wall. Weird. clunk clunk I heard noises coming from the kitchen. He was right, there was someone or something in the apartment other than he and myself. I slowly and cautiously opened the door and peered out. No one in the hallway: good. Silently I crept along until I got a good glimpse of the 'trespasser.' In the kitchen was my mom, making breakfast. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Good morning, mom." Luckily, I was looking like my usual self.

"Oh, hello, Takeru! How are you doing? Did you have a nice day and a half to yourself?" She finished with the eggs and started flipping pancakes.

"Yes, mom, I did. But, can I ask why you're home so early? I thought you were supposed to be in California for a week! And why are you going out of your way to make all this? You usually don't make all this unless we have guests!" It was true. Usually, I had to fix myself a bowl of cereal or oatmeal in the morning. But, here she was making French toast, pancakes, sunny-side up eggs, bacon and sausage! I mean, my mom is a good cook and all, but…this is a little too much.

"You wouldn't believe it! The moment I got in the airport, I got a call saying that she had caught pneumonia. We had to postpone our interview by seven months! So, I took the next flight home. I came in at around 5 o'clock this morning, and I couldn't get to sleep, so I decided to make a great breakfast for my son! Dig in!" She handed me a plate. I looked at it skeptically. Something about her story didn't seem…right.

It was at that moment that I remembered one important detail about my life during the past two days. I hadn't eaten a thing! And…I'm not hungry at all! Maybe it was a side effect from my "transformation." Or, I had subconsciously become anorexic and didn't know it. Either way, I didn't feel like eating. It was just that simple. "I-I-I'm sorry, mom, it's just…I'm not hungry. You caught me at a bad time." She didn't seem too surprised, which made me wonder a bit.

"Oh, come on, Takeru! I'm sorry to hear about Patamon, but you have got to move on!" Ah ha! The plot thickens… "Normally, you love my cooking! Here!" She grabbed a forkful of eggs. Oh no, she's not doing what I think she's doing…

gulp GAG "Aahh!" I choked it all out. It tasted HORRIBLE! Like paper mixed with sawdust combined with broccoli served au jus of more sawdust! It had NO taste whatsoever. "Man, mom! What did you put into that! Ugh!"

"Is something wrong? I used the same recipe I always use! There shouldn't be anything wrong with it…" She took a forkful for herself. "Hm. It tastes just fine! I don't know what you're going on about." She seemed a bit disappointed…

I knew it. There is definitely something wrong with me. Not like that was painfully obvious before.

"Oh, by the way, Matt called and left a message last night. Did you get it?"

"No…what happened?"

Her face softened as she replied, "Apparently Sora's in the hospital. She collapsed last night while they were in a restaurant. She's in a coma, and the doctors have no idea why."

"What?"

"Apparently Matt and the others were waiting in the Emergency Room for almost four hours last night."

I was flabbergasted, shell-shocked; you name it. I mean, we weren't on the friendliest of terms, but…they definitely should have told me about this! "W-Wow! No one told me anything. I mean, I checked my cell phone & my D-terminal before I went to bed last night, and there weren't any messages!"

"Still, maybe you should go and visit her. You may find out something."

"Huh?" That…did not exactly sound like my mom.

"Oh, here!" She went into her bedroom and pulled out two orchid plants. Sora's favorite. They were both healthy and in bloom. One had many purple flowers with white veins and the other was more of a yellowish color."When I heard about what happened, I just had to get these. I hope she doesn't mind that I bought them from her mom's store..."

"No, she won't, mom. I'll go give these to her, right now!"

---

The hospital was about 20 minutes from my apartment; in fact, it was a block away from my school. Smart place to put it. I entered the mostly white building to find that there was more white inside. All this white…it's too unnerving. They need some color. The old lady at the desk also fit in with the white theme, with a white nurse cap, white nurse dress, white hair, the works. I felt out of place with my dark navy blue shirt and black pants. "Um, excuse me, I'm here to see Sora Takenouchi."

The lady looked up at me. "You and everyone else in the world. I heard she had about fifteen people waiting, and there's definitely been about twenty people come to see her today. Though, I'm not exactly complaining to see a person get visited, I'm just sick and tired of telling people that she's in Room no. 518."

"So…is she...?"

"Yes!"

"Um…OK. Thank you." I followed the hallway that the lady gestured to. Following the signs and my internal sense of direction, I found myself outside a door labeled "518" on the fifth floor near the far corner sandwiched between a work elevator and what appeared to be a tearoom. Nearing the door, I was afraid about what I was going to see. I had heard rumors on my way here from nurses and doctors concerning "a sweet young redhead that had no hope of survival." Things weren't looking good…

I was about to knock on the door, when, very cartoonishly, it flung outward smacking me into the wall behind it. After stifling a few expletives, and ignoring the increasing throbbing on my forehead and nose, I turned to see who had dared hit me with the door. There walking away were some of Sora's friends from tennis. I don't remember their names, but all three, two girls and a guy, had tears down their cheeks. Definitely not looking good…

After five minutes of massaging my forehead and nose, and gathering up the courage, I picked up the bag that had the two flowers in it and walked into the room. I was really surprised at what I saw. I had imagined Sora's lifeless body lying motionlessly on the cold hard bed with various feeding tubes stuffed harshly into her arms. Through all of the possible images I could have thought of, I wasn't expecting to see Sora sitting up in her bed, staring thoughtfully through the window while brushing her hair.

"Hello, TK. How are you today?"

"Hi, Sora... how are you feeling?"

She put down her hair brush on the end table. "Please tell everyone that they shouldn't worry about me like they are. I just can't bear watching them, and not being able to do anything about it... I want to tell them that I'll be okay."

"Um... OK. I'll tell them." I sat down on the bed next to her and placed the orchids on the end table. "But, don't you think that you should tell them yourself?"

"I can't..." She turned to look at me. "You're the only one I can talk to. You see, my... I'm currently separated from my body."

"What? That... doesn't make sense. Why would you be separated from your body?"

"Because... I've been talking with Koi."

Ah, yes, that would make perfect sense... Sora was the Love Crest holder, and Koi was the Love Spirit and is now... I don't know where.  
Wait a minute, now that you mention it... the Mon no spirits have been very quiet today.

"Please, TK. Koi told me everything. And... it sounds like you are the only one who can do this. We, the Digidestined, will try to help you in any way we can, but I think the best thing we can do is stay out of your way. Now, I must go. Good bye, and thank you for the orchids." The Sora I was talking to faded away to reveal the real Sora laying lifeless on the bed with an IV tube stuck in her upper arm. Her hands, whether as a cruel joke or not, were placed folded together like a dead body's, so that they could hold something, usually flowers. Wait...

ENTERING VIDEO GAME MODE

Room 518

Examine?  
YES no

Sora is lying down on the bed. However, her hands look like she should be holding something...

ITEM MENU

Orb of Sands Key Item ------  
2 Small Stones Key Item  
Crest of Miracles Key Item  
D-Terminal Key Item  
Twin Daggers Weapon  
Cell Phone Key Item  
Wallet Key Item- You have 1000 yen.

Use Orb of Sands?  
YES no

TK Used Orb of Sands.

TK Placed Orb of Sands in Sora's hands.

Sora: "Wh...wha...?"

EXIT VIDEO GAME MODE

I watched as Sora opened her eyes. She seemed confused as she looked around the room before finally resting her eyes on me. "TK, what's going on?"

I took the sphere from her hands and showed it to her. For some reason... it was now half-empty... "This came from Koi." And that's all I had to say for her to understand.

She sat up to look at me. "If... this is the case... then, please revive Biyomon as well. She was with Koi and me. She's at Gennai's House right now. Please."

"SORA!" I jumped five feet into the air before I realized who made me permanently deaf. Mimi was standing in the doorway, her hands on her head in shock. Next to her, carrying bags and also cradling his ears, was Taichi. "Sora Sora Sora Sora Sora!"

"Hello...Mimi."

"Sora, you're okay! YOU'RE OKAY!" I took the opportunity while Mimi and Tai were standing in a stupor to quickly whisper a good-bye to Sora. I walked out of the room, Tai and Mimi becoming coherent for a second to say good-bye to me as well. I quickly made my way to the elevator as fast as possible to save my hearing. Unfortunately for me, my weird experiences for the day weren't over. As the elevator was going down, something in my pocket started shining. I reached in and pulled out the Crest of Miracles. There was that sign again, the greek letter sigma encompassed by a theta, both in liquid gold with a pure white background... It floated out of my hand and then went completely berserk with light. I'm now deaf and blind. Wonderful.

When the light faded, I found myself in a large cathedral. It wasn't the same as the one in my mind, as it was much larger and more ornate.

"Hello, Takeru. Welcome to the Crest of Miracles."

I swung around. Most of the Mon no siblings and Makra, in front of them, were standing there.

"Your mind was too small for all of us, so we moved here." YES! No more Psychological problems for me!

"Anyway, sorry about the abrupt departure from reality, but I figured that this is very important and you needed to know about it. We, er... discovered some important information."

"Did you find a vaccine?"

"Well..." It is very hard to imagine a self-proclaimed man of knowledge with a look of uncertainty in his eyes. "No. However, we did discover why you reacted to the virus the way you did. It is... very interesting. Please follow me."

Well, at least one mystery is about to be solved.

Once again, I do not own Digimon, I do not own Takeru Takaishi, Taichi Yagami, Sora Takenouchi, Mimi Tachikawa nor any other character in this fic except perhaps the Mon no siblings and Makra and Magna Patamon/ digivolutions to be seen later. The next chapter will be uploaded when I return from Europe, so look for it by the end of the month (I get back the 24th).


End file.
